KUALA LUMPUR, July 3 — Datuk Seri Najib Razak belittled the sacrifices of security personnel who quelled the communist insurgency by claiming his Umno had "fought and defeated” the group, the National Patriots Association said today.

Patriot president Brig. Gen (Rtd) Datuk Mohamed Arshad Raji also pointed out that the insurgency was defeated by a multiracial effort rather than by any one community alone.

Far from fighting and besting the communists as Najib claimed, Mohamed Arshad said there is no written record to show that any Umno member had been directly involved in the deadly skirmishes.

"Members of the security forces that had served throughout the period of the communist insurgency can easily vouch that they had never seen a single Umno member carrying a 30 kilo pack filled with rations and ammunition on their back and a rifle in hand, foraging the jungles of Pahang, Perak, Kedah and Sarawak, risking stepping on booby traps, to seek out the communist insurgents.

"Neither have any of its members fallen fighting the communist insurgents,” he said in a statement.

The political party was also not on record as a direct participant in the clashes, he noted before criticising the former prime minister for dishonouring the security personnel who died in battle against the communist forces.

The head of the retired servicemen’s group expressed puzzlement at how Najib saw fit to twist facts and history in his bid to be popular among the Malay community.

Criticising the effort to portray the Insurgency as having been won without the participation of the non-Malays, the Patriot president said this was categorically false.

"Patriot urges Najib to correct the unscrupulous statement he made.”

On Monday, Najib sought to rally Umno members to his side by claiming he was fighting the government alone.

He told them that they have nothing to fear by opposing Pakatan Harapan, reportedly saying "the party can resist the cruel PH government, just as it fought and defeated the communist during the decades long insurgency”.