Dr Mahathir Mohamad berkata beliau tidak sedih atau marah dengan cadangan seorang anggota MIC agar gambar beliau dikalung selipar. Bekas perdana menteri itu berkata beliau tidak merasakan apa-apa dengan kecaman tersebut kerana "bukan saya jadi apa-apa". Ini kerana kecaman itu datang daripada anggota parti lain dan iannya tidak merugikannya, katanya kepada Bernama di sini.Sebaliknya, Dr Mahathir berkata, beliau amat sedih dan marah sekiranya kecaman datang daripada anggota Umno sendiri seperti yang pernah berlaku.
"Ini bukan kali pertama saya dikecam. Dulu orang dah lupa macam mana pemimpin Umno kecam saya.
"Nazri (menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz) dan menteri besar Kedah dahulu nak buang saya daripada Umno.
"Tapi masa itu tak ada siapa bagi reaksi apa pun. Tak ada orang berani cakap apa," katanya.
Cadangan kalungan selipar itu dibuat oleh Timbalan Ketua MIC bahagian Paya Besar, Pahang, M Sukumaran pada perhimpunan agung MIC Ahad lepas di ibu negara kerana mendakwa Dr Mahathir mencampuri urusan parti itu melalui kenyataan-kenyataan yang dibuatnya. Ekoran itu, Sukumaran dikecam hebat dan dianggap sebagai biadab. Beliau kemudian memohon maaf dengan memberi alasan beliau telah terlepas cakap. Malah, anggota MIC itu ingin menemui Dr Mahathir untuk meminta maaf secara peribadi.
Mengulas lanjut isu itu, Dr Mahathir berkata: "Tiba-tiba saya jadi popular. Orang semua pertahankan saya.
"Seperti yang saya katakan, dulu saya kena kecam, kena kata... suruh buang daripada Umno. Tapi orang tak react (beri reaksi)."
"Pasal apa dulu tak react, kali ini react.
"Dulu bila saya kena kecam, tak ada sesiapa pertahankan saya. Taklah secara terbuka. Orang senyap-senyap beranilah tapi orang kenamaan dan orang terkenal tak beranilah pertahan saya," katanya.
Dr Mahathir berkata beliau sedih apabila orang partinya sendiri dan orang yang duduk dalam kabinetnya sendiri mengecamnya. Katanya beliau lebih marah terhadap kecaman yang dilontarkan oleh anggota Umno dan bekas anggota kabinetnya daripada kecaman yang dibuat oleh anggota MIC.
"Saya duduk dalam Umno dari mula parti itu ditubuhkan. Yang tegur saya ini belum beranak pun lagi," katanya.
Mengenai hasrat Sukumaran ingin menemuinya untuk memohon maaf, Dr Mahathir berkata: "Minta maaf tak apa, tak minta maaf pun tak apa. Bagi saya tak ada apa-apa. Saya yang sedih bila orang parti saya sendiri, orang yang duduk dalam kabinet saya sendiri kecam saya."
Dr Mahathir berkata Sukumaran kini menjadi mangsa percakapannya sendiri. Selasa lepas, Presiden MIC Datuk Seri Samy Vellu mengumumkan penggantungan serta-merta keanggotaan Sukumaran ekoran kecamannya itu.
(While many, including his son, rushed to Dr Mahathir Mohamad's defence over the 'slipper garland' remark, the former premier however had a different take. Recalling how he was attacked by Umno leaders during the reign of Abullah Ahmad Badawi, Mahathir pointed out that nobody gave two hoots then. The former Umno president then zeroed in on his chief critic in Umno, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz."This is not the first time I have been insulted. People might have forgotten how Umno leaders insulted me. Nazri (left) and the previous menteri besar of Kedah (Mahadzir Khalid) wanted me expelled from Umno. "However, then no one gave any reaction. No one dared to say anything," he told Bernama.
"Suddenly I have become popular. Everyone is defending me. As I said... previously when I was insulted, asked to be expelled from Umno, no one showed any reaction. Why the reaction now?"
"Then no one defended me. At least not openly. Some did on the quiet but the big names dared not," he said, adding that he was saddened that people from his own party and who sat with him in his cabinet had resorted to such action.
Mahathir was responding to the controversy surrounding MIC delegate M Sukumaran who drew flak when he said that the former premier's photograph should be garlanded with slippers. Sukumaran, who has since been suspended by MIC president S Samy Vellu pending an inquiry into his outburst, had expressed regret and apologised to the former premier. The delegate made the remark during the MIC annual general assembly over the weekend in response to Mahathir's criticism towards the party president.
However, Mahathir said he was not saddened or angered by the insult. It was insults from Umno people, he stressed, that hurt him and this one from the MIC member was just like "pouring water on a duck's back."
"I have been with Umno since its formation (except for short spells when he was expelled and when he resigned as a member). The people who talked bad about me weren't even born yet," he said. The 84-year-old statesman added that if he were back in power now, he would drop these people from the cabinet. On Sukumaran's wish to apologise to him, Mahathir said: "Apologise also okay, don't want to apologise also don't matter. It's only when my own people hurl insults at me that I feel slighted." He said Sukumaran now had become his own victim because of his action.)
source:bernama/malaysiakini
The majority of ntv7's prime time English news viewers found nothing wrong with a MIC delegate's call to garland former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad's photograph with slippers. A total of 51 percent had voted 'No' in a SMS poll aired by the Umno-linked television network which asked if the delegate's remark was "rude, extreme and uncalled for."
The 'slipper garland' remark elicited widespread condemnation from various quarters, including Mahathir's son and international trade and industry deputy minister Muhkriz. Umno leaders Hishammuddin Hussein and Rais Yatim also saw red.
Nasiblah Mahathir ooi., sampai nak jadi perwakilan pun dikena main oleh bahagian sendiri. Pendek kata depa pun dah meluat kat hang kot...........
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