KUALA LUMPUR: Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad told the High Court that allegedly being called "Mahathir a/l Iskandar Kutty" by Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi would not have mattered to him if he was not a politician.
“If I were just selling kacang putih by the roadside, I would not care.
"But as a political leader, this kind of attack is malicious and damaging," he said on the stand here on Tuesday (Oct 29).
The former prime minister said there were ways to undermine a political rival but destroying public trust in one's opponent was wrong.
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“His words affected many, sparking interest and impacting my image,” he said.
Dr Mahathir was being cross-examined by Ahmad Zahid's lawyer Mohd Shahrul Fazli Kamarulzaman in the hearing of a lawsuit he initiated against Ahmad Zahid for alleged defamation over the latter's "Kutty" remarks.
Shahrul had suggested that Ahmad Zahid’s impugned remarks were merely a political manoeuvre.
Dr Mahathir responded that while there were many such political manoeuvres, either good or bad, Ahmad Zahid's intentions with the remarks were "malicious, vicious, deceitful and harmful".
He was also questioned by Shahrul about the timing of the lawsuit and the public reactions it generated in 2022, five years after the remarks were made in 2017.
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The former prime minister said Ahmad Zahid’s words had lasting repercussions.
“If Zahid never made that statement, there would be no lawsuit.
“The comments and reactions are direct results of what he said,” Dr Mahathir said.
Shahrul also suggested that if the lawsuit had not been filed, the public reactions in 2022 would not have come to pass.
The plaintiff disagreed.
"You are suggesting that suing people is wrong. I have explained why I took time to pursue this legally.
"If people did not know what Zahid said, they would not comment," Dr Mahathir replied.
On July 20 last year, Dr Mahathir filed the lawsuit against Ahmad Zahid, 70, as the sole defendant, for allegedly issuing defamatory statements regarding the "kutty" issue.
ALSO READ: Dr M sues Ahmad Zahid over remarks questioning his ancestry
In his statement of claim, Dr Mahathir claimed that Ahmad Zahid had issued a defamatory statement against him during an Umno division meeting in Kelana Jaya on July 30, 2017.
The statement was reproduced on Astro Awani's YouTube and several online news portals, which can be easily accessed by Internet users without any restrictions.
Dr Mahathir claimed that the statement meant that he was not born a Malay or a Muslim with the alleged original name of "Mahathir son of Iskandar Kutty" and that he claimed to be a Malay when he became prime minister to gain political and personal advantage apart from belittling Malaysians of Indian Muslim descent.
In his statement of defence, Ahmad Zahid denied that the statement made on July 30, 2017, was malicious and slanderous and harmed the reputation of the plaintiff in the public eye.
The Umno president claimed that the name "Mahathir son of Iskandar Kutty" refers to an individual based on the information in an old copy of an identity card, in addition to claiming that he also has no control over any video publication regarding his statement on a media platform.
The hearing continues before Judicial Commissioner Gan Techiong.
