Sulu datu to drop Sabah, claims support from ‘Maruas’

From the Daily Tribune (Sep 30): Sulu datu to drop Sabah, claims support from ‘Maruas’

A self-proclaimed “Crown Prince” of Sulu informed Malaysian media yesterday that the Sulu Sultanate will drop the claim on the Malaysian state of Sabah and it will instead seek independence from the Philippines.

An article from Malaysian daily Free Malaysia Today said “Crown Prince” Datu Khudar S. J. Kiram II, 59, who claims to be a direct descendant from a second son of Sultan Jamalul Alam or Sultan Jamalul Kiram II, told Malaysian media that he will call for a press conference in Manila next week and announce the dropping of the Sabah claim. “The Philippine Government will no longer have the right to interfere in the affairs of the Sulu Sultanate,” according to Kiram.

Another Malaysia newspaper Daily Express said Datu Khudar claimed that his plan is supported by one of the Philippines’ presidential candidates “who goes by the name of ‘Maruas.’”

Jamalul Alam was the Sultan who signed the “lease” agreement to parts of Sabah with Baron Von Overbeck and Alfred Dent on 22 January, 1878 in Sulu. Khudar claims that he has the Sabah grant in his possession and pledged to hand it over to the Sabah Government on August 8 next year, the birthday of his late father, when he plans to declare an independent monarchy in the southern Philippines called Sulu Darul Jambangan.

The acknowledged head of the Sultanate, Sultan Esmail Kiram II, who staged a 2013 invasion of the Sabah state in Malaysia died of kidney failure last Sept. 20.

The claimant to the Sultanate title said he has the Sabah grant in his possession and pledges to hand it over to the Sabah Government on August 8 next year, the Malaysian paper quoted Kiram as saying.

“I have also obtained a Court order to release the sovereign gold which belonged to my late father and it will be used to build the Sulu nation,” Kiram was quoted as saying.

Kiram pledged to liberate his one million countrymen in Sabah, who have MyKads, through the independent monarchy.

“I am sad how my countrymen in Sabah are treated like ‘toilets’ by the politicians who only want their votes,” he charged. “I am sorry but this is the truth.”

“Each time there’s an election, some parties insult my people, while others just want their votes. After the elections, they are forgotten.”

“My brother, Sultan Rodinhood Kiram II, is the rightful reigning Sulu Sultan but has no interest in running the kingdom. Hence, all administrative duties are under my direction,” he added.

Pro-Malaysian Kirams

Daily Express quoted Kiram, who resides in Manila, as saying that his family line has always been supportive of Sabah joining Malaysia, saying he doesn’t want Sabah to fall under the Manila “Christian Government.”

“We all wanted Sabah to remain a Muslim country…during the declaration on Sept. 1963, my father Sultan Jamalul Kiram II was on stage behind Tun Mustapha, and I was also on stage,” he added.

“I was probably around six years old at the time but as I understood Sabah could not enter into Malaysia without the nod of the Sulu Sultanate, which came from my father,” he told reporters.

Kiram said until today his family had become the backbone of Sabah, although unhappy that many people are also claiming the Sultanate lineage, with some having launched hostile campaigns to reclaim North Borneo over the years.

And any future attempt to intrude Sabah, he said, will have to go “over my dead body,” and put a stop to individuals who also claimed to be Sulu Sultans from conferring the “Datu” title to Malaysians.

“Firstly we and the rest of the family are deeply saddened by the incursion in Tanduo, Lahad Datu. Many people died in the incursion, including my fellow countrymen,” he said.

“We do not condone or were involved in the incident which was carried out by a bunch of rebels and destroyed the good name of the Sulu Sultanate and the people of Sulu themselves,” he said.

He said the Kiram family was not hostile, pointing out the actions of the self-styled Sultan Jamalul Kiram III who had no sovereign rights had desecrated his family name. Datu Khudar said the late Kiram III came from the descendant of a younger sibling of his great grandfather, Sultan Nawalil Wasit and that his family had insulted his father who refused to be part of the nine claimants to Sabah.

He revealed the actions of Kiram III in 2013 were fueled by funds from “outsiders.”

He claimed he has close to a million subjects with MyKads currently residing in Sabah and plans to call them back home to the Southern Philippine region of Mindanao to rebuild this nation.

Datu Khudar said if all goes well he will call for their return in August next year and will declare the nation’s independence on Aug 8, coinciding with his father’s birthday.

Toward this end, he also promised to return the Sabah Grant back to the State Government and put an end to all future claims over Sabah by the Sulu Sultanate relatives.

Kiram was quoted as saying the government now is willing to listen to their demands due to the killing of 44 Filipino soldiers by alleged Muslim separatists, although such claims had never been proven in court.

He said for funding to rebuild the nation he had received a court order to release the sovereign gold which belonged to his father, without elaborating where the wealth was kept.

 

Datu Khudar said he will also advise his siblings to drop any plans to reclaim Sabah once he secures the sovereign wealth for the creation of his new nation.

http://www.tribune.net.ph/headlines/sulu-datu-to-drop-sabah-claims-support-from-maruas