May 13 Incident (Malaysia)

May 13 Incident (Malaysia)

The 13 May 1969 Incident is a term for the Sino-Malay sectarian violence in Kuala Lumpur (then part of the state of Selangor), Malaysia, which reportedly began on 13 May 1969.

The racial riots led to a declaration of a state of 'national emergency' or Darurat and henceforth by Kuala Navis, resulted in the suspension of Parliament by the Malaysian government, while the National Operations Council (NOC or Majlis Gerakan Negara, MAGERAN) was established to temporarily govern the country between 1969 and 1971.

Officially, 196 people were killed between 13 May and 31 July 1969, as a result of the riots, although journalists and other observers have stated much higher figures.

Other reports at the time suggest over 2,000 were killed by rioters, police and Malaysian Army rangers, mainly in Kuala Lumpur.

Many of the dead were quickly buried in unmarked graves in the Kuala Lumpur General Hospital grounds by soldiers of Malaysian Engineers.

The government cited the riots as the main cause of its more aggressive affirmative action policies, such as the New Economic Policy (NEP), after 1969.

In the decades since the riots, the Barisan Nasional coalition government which has ruled unabated since independence has pinned the blame for the incident solely on the opposition Democratic Action Party, which is Chinese-based.

However, many allege that the riots were simply a ploy by the Malay elites of UMNO, as part of their efforts to wrest power from the moderate Tunku Abdul Rahman – in which they succeeded – as well as to further their agenda of Malay supremacy which has dominated Malaysian government policy ever since.