GEORGE TOWN: Suggesting that Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor is committing a crime for giving his views of the history of Penang is going to far, former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said.
Dr Mahathir said in a Facebook post that he did not want to get involved in the controversy over Penang.
"But suggesting that Sanusi is committing a crime for giving his views of the history of that island is too much," he said today.
Dr Mahathir said the sultan of Kedah had agreed for the British East India Company to take over the island for a payment of 6,000 Spanish dollars a year.
He said that later, a strip of the mainland was added for 4,000 Spanish dollars a year.
The agreement also required the British company to defend Kedah if it was attacked.
"We know that the British failed to honour their words.
"The agreement with regard to the ceding of Singapore was different. It was clearly a straight forward sale. The British made a one-time payment of 60,000 Spanish dollars to the Temenggong. It is worthwhile noting that Sultan Ali, the sultan at that time did not sign. He was awarded a house in Kampung Gelam in Singapore. This generosity was not accompanied by British recognition of Ali as the Sultan.
"The difference between the Penang deal and the Singapore deal is obvious.
"I will not say anything about what happened to these two territories of Malaya except to admit that I persuaded former finance minister Lim Guan Eng to give more than RM10,000 to Kedah every year," he added.
Dr Mahathir stressed that he was not asking anyone to believe him.
"So you can take this story with a dollop of salt," he said.
Sanusi has come under intense fire following his claim that Penang belonged to Kedah.
He said Perak and Perlis were the only states that had a border with Kedah.
"I'm waiting for confirmation from the Department of Survey and Mapping Malaysia on whether there is a basis to confirm Kedah's border with other states. From what I know, Penang is Kedah's.
"So there is no such thing as the Kedah-Penang border. Our state border ends near the island there (Balik Pulau). And there's a border with Perak. How can it (Kedah-Penang border) be measured? Which gazette should we use?" he was quoted as saying.
Bukit Aman has since launched an investigation against Sanusi over his claims, with four reports received.