In a ‘Mahathir is not truly Malay’ campaign, the Malaysian deputy Prime Minister is said to have gone so low in claiming that former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad is of Indian origin.
Zahid accused Mahathir of using the Malays and Umno all this while on the “pretence” of championing the Malay agenda.
He brought up Mahathir’s Indian ancestry, saying that the man who had been prime minister for 22 years has a ‘blue IC’ that states that his name is Mahathir anak lelaki (son of) Iskandar Kutty. His IC number is 2232519.
“The National Registration Department (NRD) chief gave me this information,” said Zahid.
Little did Zahid know that the social media will be abuzz with his claim, with some blasting him off for the ‘racial’ attack.
The video below shows Zahid speaking in Malay, attacking Mahathir on his alleged Indian origin and making a point that people who have ‘anak lelaki’ or ‘son of’ in their identity cards are not Malays.
Many among the Mamak group – Indian Muslims – in Malaysia still have ‘son of’ in their identity cards and they are now considered Malays.
The division of Muslims in Malaysia has been an ongoing issue, fought against by those who do not fall under the ‘Malay’ banner.
But many Malays refuses to accept them too, in the ‘Melayu’ contingent.
However, Zahid’s attack against Mahathir drew harsh comments from many opposition followers.
Some calling him ‘betrayer’ and the worst deputy PM that has ever been born in this country.
But most of those who criticised Zahid for his comments on Mahathir said the Deputy PM should look back at his own origins before attacking others for not being ‘Malay’.
Others said since Zahid is of ‘Javanese’ origin – and saying that he praised his Javanese origin on Indonesian television recently – should ask Mahathir and the Indian Muslims for forgiveness.
“If you fail to ask forgiveness, lets all of us join forces and vote against the BN-Umno regime,” says one WhatsApp message circulating in Malaysia.