'Why no similar outrage when Dr M's heritage was questioned?'

Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has come under a lot of heat over his "Bugis pirate" comment against Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

However, Persatuan Patriot Kebangsaan president Mohd Arshad Raji questioned why there was no similar outrage when a government minister questioned Mahathir's Indian heritage.

"Why when a senior Umno minister made innuendos about Mahathir's Indian heritage, was there no demands for the senior Umno minister to be prosecuted?

"Mahathir had responded with calmness and asked for the senior Umno minister to show his old identification card to prove his Indian heritage.

"To date, there has been no proof produced by the senior Umno minister. Is that not a lie?" he said in a statement today.

Arshad was referring to Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi (photo), who had in July made a reference to Mahathir's identification card, claiming that his father's name was "Iskandar Kutty", which suggested Indian heritage.

Zahid, who is also Home Minister, was criticising Mahathir for "using" the Malay community.

Mahathir has recently come under fire for his speech at the "Sayangi Malaysia, Hapuskan Kleptocracy" rally last month where he referred to Najib as a "Bugis pirate".

Mahathir later insisted that his comment was targetted specifically at Najib and not intended as an insult to the entire Bugis community.

Selangor ruler Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah had expressed displeasure at Mahathir's comment, pointing out that the Selangor sultanate is also of Bugis heritage.

He said the comment was an attempt to incite hatred towards the Bugis community.

The monarch also revealed that the Selangor Royal Council had suggested that Mahathir is investigated under the Sedition Act 1948.

Arshad questioned why there was a sudden interest in the specific subgroups of the Malay race.

He said the issue of lineage should not divide the Malays just as the issue of race and religion should not divide Malaysians.- Mkini