Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has refuted a cleric’s controversial statement that only Malays resisted the Japanese occupation and the Malayan Communist Party.

Referring to the writings of historian Khoo Kay Kim, Zahid said that history recorded the contributions of multiple races in fighting the Japanese during World War II and the communists during the Emergency.

“To say that only one race defended the country might be tak elok (not proper)...