KUALA LUMPUR: Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad is suing Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi for questioning his racial origins.
The former prime minister, who is also the chairman of Parti Pejuang Tanah Air filed the suit through Messrs. Haidir & Co at the High Court here, on July 20 against Zahid who is also Umno president.
Based on the statement of claim, Dr Mahathir said the defendant issued a false, slanderous and malicious statement deliberately referring directly to the plaintiff during the Kelana Jaya Umno division meeting, on July 30, 2017.
The Langkawi member of parliament said the video recording of the event, which contained false and slanderous statements, was republished via Astro AWANI's YouTube in a two-minute and 40-second long video clip.
He said, the video recording logged 148,199 views as of the suit's filing.
"The plaintiff truly believes that the individual referred to by the defendant in the defamatory statement as 'that person', 'he' and 'Mahathir son of Iskandar Kutty' clearly referred to him, specifically.
"Defamatory statements published by Astro AWANI on its YouTube account can be accessed and viewed by all Internet users in every corner of the world without any restriction or limitation.
"The number of parties who know or watched the video recording of the meeting containing the defamatory statement is unknown.
"Furthermore, there are other media and online platforms reporting on the slanderous statement such as the Malay Mail, Free Malaysia Today and Malaysiakini," he said.
On May 17, Dr Mahathir had said he was considering taking legal action against Zahid if the former deputy prime minister did not apologise and retract the defamatory statement.
Dr Mahathir had said that he did does not like to resort to court action despite people slandering him as part of political campaigns.
However, he felt there was a need to take action on Zahid's purported lying ways, which he described as nauseating and was something that could not be left unchecked.
Dr Mahathir, through the statement of claim, also said Zahid had malicious intent by issuing defamatory statements that exposed him to dissatisfaction and hatred within the community.
He said his status as a statesman and an influential political figure in the eyes of the world was also skewed as a result.
The statement of claim said that the statement demeans, injures and defames the reputation, good name, image, dignity and integrity of the plaintiff.
Dr Mahathir also said the statement was targeted at him to persistently weaken his political influence so that he suffers terrible and great losses.
"The defamatory statement in its natural and ordinary meaning is at all times referring to the plaintiff and is interpreted, intended or understood to have the following meaning:
"That the plaintiff was not born as a Malay or a Muslim with the alleged original name of Mahathir, the son of Iskandar Kutty.
"That the plaintiff had used the Malays during his tenure as prime minister for political and personal gain.
"That the plaintiff belittles Malaysians of Muslim Indian descent and the plaintiff feels ashamed and humiliated by his ancestors who have Indian blood," Dr Mahathir said.
In addition, the former prime minister said that Zahid's slanderous statement implied that his credibility to lead the country and a party that prioritises the Malays was put to question and in doubt.
The statement also makes out Dr Mahathir to be a liar, untrustworthy, selfish, unethical while holding public office and unfit to be a leader or public figure, he said.