HOURS after being slapped with a RM5 million defamation suit by Amanah vice-president Dr Mujahid Yusof Rawa, Universiti Utara Malaysia lecturer Kamarul Zaman Yusoff said he will respond with similar suits of his own.

Taking to his Facebook page, Kamarul said he would sue Mujahid, Amanah communications director Khalid Samad and legal bureau director Mohamed Hanipa Maidin.

The lecturer alleged that Mujahid had called him “crazy”, “ignorant”, “foolish’ and a “hired writer” in one of his articles.

He, however, did not give reasons why he wanted to sue Khalid and Hanipa.

“Mujahid taking legal action against me shows that Amanah is a narrow-minded (‘jumud’) party incapable of engaging in dialogue, unlike the progressive image the party is trying to portray through its slogan.”

Mujahid, through his lawyer, Mohd Fitri Asmuni, filed the suit against Kamarul this morning at the Kuala Lumpur court complex over the latter’s Facebook article, titled “Dr Mujahid Antara Kuda Tunggangan Terbaik DAP” (Dr Mujahid is among DAP’s best lackeys), on May 25.

Mujahid also applied to the court for an injunction to stop Kamarul from republishing the statement. The suit was filed after Kamarul failed to apologise over his remarks.

Kamarul said he had received a notice of demand on June 5 over the article, which was a comment piece on Mujahid’s statement on Selangor Speaker Hannah Yeoh’s book, “Becoming Hannah: A Personal Journey”.

“I want to reiterate that my ‘kuda tunggangan’ comment is far gentler than the words used by Amanah leaders and supporters against me, following the report I lodged against Yeoh.

“It is also gentler than the words Mujahid used to slam me.”

Mujahid had reportedly said in a news article, titled “Iman Tak Goyah Pun Baca Buku Yeoh”, on May 24 that his faith remained unshaken after reading Yeoh’s book.

Kamarul made headlines in May after he alleged that Yeoh’s autobiography could proselytise Malays.

Yeoh, who is DAP’s Subang assemblyman, then lodged a report against him. Kamarul responded with his own report against her, accusing DAP of hypocrisy when it came to religious matters.

Kamarul acknowledged that he had criticised the harmony bills drafted by the National Unity Consultative Council, chaired by Mujahid, in his article, and accused the latter and Amanah of being DAP’s “kuda tunggangan”.

He said his comments were not slanderous, adding that Mujahid did not deny making the statement that led to the comments.

He said the criticism he had of the scrapped bills was similar to what he had said in a June 2014 article.

“I’ve given him (Mujahid) the opportunity to respond to my criticism since June 2014. I tagged him on Facebook twice (to alert him) but he never gave feedback.

“When I called him ‘DAP’s best lackey’, it was based on his proposal to do away with race- and religion-based parties – a suggestion that was previously made by the late DAP national chairman Karpal Singh in November 2013.”

The Malaysian Insight, in a May 24 report, quoted Mujahid as saying Malaysia should do away with race- and religion-based politics, and open up parties’ membership to all races.

When asked what he thought of Kamarul’s response to his suit, Mujahid said: “We will answer in court.”

The Kuala Lumpur High Court has set July 27 for mention. – July 13, 2017.