THE MEMOIRS OF MUSTAPHA HUSSAIN - Malaysia Today

The First Malay Nationalists 149
How could he claim the ability to co-ordinate bodies and individuals
with opposing ideologies and aspirations? MPAJA and PUSA at the same
time? Both groups had similar aspirations, to get rid of Japan from their
homelands, but they were ideologically poles apart. PUSA in Acheh was
an Islamic movement – how would it work with the communist-led
MPAJA in Malaya? Could the MPAJA ever trust Ibrahim, whom they
knew was a Japanese agent? In fact, they would probably tear him to
pieces if they had the chance. As for his claims to be in touch with
Chandra Bose, Hamzah A. Cunard, an active member of the IIL Military
Liaison Division, 14 has this to say from the IIL point of view:
Taiping
December 1975
Dear Brother Mus,
I am very surprised to learn that Ibrahim Yaakub had the temerity to make
the claim that our beloved Netaji (the late Subhas Chandra Bose) would stoop
so low as to get mixed-up in a plot which Ibrahim Yaakub claimed to have
engineered to overthrow the Japanese Government in Malaya during the
Occupation.
It is more surprising to note that at the time, August 1943, when Japan was
at the zenith of its conquering might that he (Ibrahim Yaakub) was so dissatisfied
that he should plot to overthrow the Japanese Government. At that time
the Indian National Army under the inspirational leadership of the Netaji was
already in Burma preparing for the assault and the conquest of beloved India.
Would it be possible for the Netaji to be involved in a plan which would upset
his cherished hope of liberating Mother India from its British Masters?
I would like to state that since I was the second-in-command (after the late
Pritam Singh) of the IIL (Military Liaison) with the Japanese Forces, I should
know more about the Netaji’s plans than Ibrahim Yaakub, who stayed put in
Syonan (Singapore) and whose movements were closely watched by the Japanese
Counter-Intelligence. All this is nothing but the fiction of his highly-inflationary
mind. The kayu-tiga axis-like arrangement which he said he had brought about
with several of his emissaries, is [sic] certainly an impossibility, especially in a
South-East-Asia occupied by the Japanese and with all the means of communication
completely in their hands. His statement that he had connections
with Java and Sumatra are all illusions planned to show off to the Malays and
Indonesians that he had acted heroically to stamp out Japanese imperialism and
which he had also been instrumental in its introduction into Malaya by being a
small-time spy before the Malayan War, which has been admitted by him.
If his statement is made known to the people of India and Indians in Malaya
and elsewhere, Ibrahim Yaakub would be laughed at in derision. So, don’t be
bothered by the likes of Ibrahim Yaakub and you should only touch him at the
end of a long pole.
Now, about us. Do you remember the times we met at the various fronts as
we moved to the South (of Malaya)? I am reminded of the will-of-the-wisp –
you were here, there and everywhere. Do you remember – your meeting me
with the Japanese cohorts at the Bukit Timah Front where I handed over to you
two platoons of Malay soldiers with our blessings?