AHMAD Zahid Hamidi’s attack on Bersatu chairman Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s Indian heritage could backfire on Umno’s attempts to win a segment of the Muslim vote at the next elections just as the government is trying to woo Indian-Muslims with possible Bumiputera status, a political observer and some voters said.

Zahid’s remarks that the former prime minister had used Umno and the Malays for his political gain despite being of Indian parentage would not go down well among Umno veterans and young voters, said director of research firm Ilham Centre Hisommudin Bakar.

Such a comment is likely to upset the Indian Muslims as well, who number about 200,000 in Malaysia, he added.

“It will upset older Umno members and young people who are going to vote for the first time. What more the Indian-Muslim community,” Hisommudin told The Malaysian Insight.

He said Umno veterans, who were active in the party and held positions while Dr Mahathir was prime minister and Umno president, would find Zahid’s remarks insulting, as the veteran politician had been a highly respected strongman during his tenure.

Younger Malaysians, meanwhile, see Dr Mahathir as the father of modernisation and as the country’s longest-serving prime minister.

Dr Mahathir, during his 22-year tenure until 2003, established Malaysia as an Asian economic tiger with icons, such as the Petronas Twin Towers and the Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

“Youth aged 17 to 21 will be confused as to why the current leadership is insulting the former prime minister, who is known to them (through school textbooks) as the prime minister who modernised and led Malaysia for 22 years,” said Hisommudin.

At the Kelana Jaya Umno division annual general meeting over the weekend, Deputy Prime Minister Zahid attacked Dr Mahathir for abandoning the lead party in the Barisan Nasional ruling coalition.

Dr Mahathir quit Umno last year, unhappy with his former protege Najib Razak’s link to alleged corruption and the state of the economy, and formed Bersatu, which is now part of the opposition.

“Dr Mahathir had likely forgotten about this fact – that he is the son of Iskandar Kutty,” Zahid said, referring to Dr Mahathir’s Indian father.

“On his blue IC, his name is listed as Mahathir son of Iskandar Kutty. This was sent to me by the director-general of National Registration Department.”

Highlighting Dr Mahathir’s lineage was irrelevant in the current political landscape, said chairman of the Brickfields surau in Kuala Lumpur, Anver Hussein Marican, 66, and only showed Zahid’s ignorance.

“We are very hurt hearing that kind of speech. Dr Mahathir is not a normal person. He was our prime minister for 22 years. As Muslims, how can we insult one another like that? This is not healthy for the country,” Anver told The Malaysian Insight.

Other Malays interviewed said they were uncomfortable that a leader of Zahid’s stature had attacked a more senior leader, and a former prime minister at that, using his ethnic heritage.

Amirul Asyraf, 28, a public relations officer, said Zahid’s remarks tarnished Umno’s image.

“Personally, the issue of race or ethnic heritage should not be raised or tied to politics, whether by Umno or the opposition. This is not going to go down well and it gives Umno and the government a bad image,” he said.

Most glaring of all is how Zahid appears to have undermined Najib’s attempt to please the Indian-Muslim community by saying he accepted them as Bumiputeras and would study how the government could make their status official.

“I think this will jeopardise the plans to give Bumiputera status to Indian Muslims,” Amirul said.

Home-maker Normazura Mohd Tahir, 56, said discussing someone’s ethnicity and parentage had no place in modern times as it brought no benefit to the public.

Talking about a leader’s parentage only gave Umno a bad name and showed Zahid’s insensitivity, she said.

Civil servant Mohd Azham Rashid, 33, said Zahid, as a national leader, should have been more mature.

“This kind of thing can indirectly threaten the votes that Najib has been trying to get from the Indian Muslims.”

Dr Mahathir yesterday called Zahid a “liar”. The “Iskandar Kutty” Zahid mentioned was, in fact, Dr Mahathir’s grandfather, and his father is Mohamad, his daughter, Marina Mahathir, has clarified. – August 1, 2017.