After coming under fire for his initial tweets that Allah took Karpal Singh's life in order to help advance the implementation of hudud in Malaysia, Zulkifli Noordin is now singing a different tune about his "friend'.

In his latest tweets, he wrote: "To Karpal, your roar for the poor and your voice against injustice, either in Parliament or in court will be missed by many. Goodbye my friend!"

In another tweet, the former Kulim-Bandar Baharu MP stated: "To my friend Gobind Singh Deo and family, do accept my deepest condolence. I am sure Karpal's name will be tinted in gold in the history of Malaysia!"

Zulkifli also urged the opposition to respect the DAP leader's passing and not to politicise the issue.

This morning, the former Perkasa vice-president, who is no stranger to putting his foot in his mouth, tweeted: "At a time when the PAS Kelantan government wants to implement hudud with the help of Umno, Allah made Karpal die because he was its foremost opponent!"

"May the struggle to implement hudud in Kelantan succeed. Thank God for the unity between PAS and Umno, and with Karpal no longer around, I believe the path is becoming clearer!"

Zulkifli's sentiments appeared to be echoed by some Internet users, who circulated pictures alleged to be of Karpal's bleeding remains from the accident early this morning.

The pictures were included in a collage together with a 1990 Utusan Malaysia clipping with the headline attributed to Karpal: “To form an Islamic country, over my dead body first”.

Also part of the collage circulating on WhatsApp is a verse from the Quran that reads, “And never will the Jews or the Christians approve of you until you follow their religion."

Netizens blast Zulkifli

Among those who took Zulkifli to task were Youth and Sports Minister and Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin's ire, who tweeted back, “Shut up. Really, shut up.”

Zulkifli, a syariah lawyer, in a later tweet also lauded Karpal for his contribution to the legal fraternity, but this did little to ebb the onslaught by netizens and politicians alike.

MIC central working committee member S Vell Paari (left) also lambasted Zulkifli, likening him to the devil.

“Karpal Singh is the sign of political righteousness. You are a sign of political satanism,” he tweeted.

Meanwhile, Perkasa chief Ibrahim Ali said in an SMS that he would feel Karpal's loss as the veteran politician had "coloured Malaysian politics".

"His is more ethical than (PKR de facto leader) Anwar Ibrahim," Ibrahim said.

"I was among the MPs who had always locked horns with Karpal in Parliament. I remember how angry he was at me for saying that I can pass laws in the Holiday Inn, when he claimed I was untrained in law so should not be a deputy minister in charge of law."

However, Ibrahim (right) said he had "lost respect" for Karpal for rejecting hudud, as he felt Karpal, "a fighter for justice did not respect Islamic justice" and was practising "double standards".

The late Bukit Gelugor MP was known for his fierce public criticism of plans to implement hudud law in the country, arguing it is a contradiction to the secular laws outlined in the Federal Constitution.

For Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad, former PAS MP for Kuala Selangor, Zukifli's response was shocking. "But knowing him, we can understand. This is such a great disservice to Islam.”

"We, PAS, may have our differences with Karpal, but we stand to give him all the respect due to this towering politician," he told reporters at the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall.

He added that Karpal was one of the longest serving parliamentarians, and should be given the due respect.

Tabung Haji chief also blasted

Meanwhile, another tweet from an account with the handle @putera_umno, a youth movement aligned to Umno once headed by now Tabung Haji chairperson Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim, also riled many netizens over an apparently insensitive remark on Karpal's passing.

Marina Mahathir (right) , daughter of former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, said: “You are so Islamic. Did you know that even my mother asked for the phone number of Karpal's widow to express her condolences?”

“You have no class. If people do the same to my father, I will blame you. I have told him about your behaviour.”

Marina (right) also tweeted a hadith (actions and sayings of Prophet Muhammad) that described the prophet once paying respects to a Jewish man.

However it is not clear what the user @putera_umno had initially tweeted to earn Marina's wrath, as the Twitter account has been suspended.

Communications and Multimedia Minister Shabery Cheek also censured those spreading pictures of Karpal from the accident.

“Spreading pictures of the dead, especially in a terrible state, is something unethical.

"I hope the maintream media does not do the same. We should all empathise with his surviving family,” Shabery wrote on Facebook.

Karpal, 74, and his aide Michael Cornelius Jayakrishnan, 39, were killed in a road accident about 1.10 this morning near Kampar in Perak.

The former DAP chairperson's sudden departure has shocked the nation, and elicated a flood of eulogies from both sides of the political divide.

Related stories

Karpal killed in accident near Kampar

An emotional and teary morning

Penang to give Karpal official send-off

Legacy of the 'Tiger of Jelutong' will endure

Zul's twist: 'Allah killed him' to 'Goodbye friend'

Umno MP retracts FB remark on Karpal

'A giant in the legal fraternity'

Lorry driver tests positive for drugs in Karpal crash

Lorry driver: I didn’t know it was Karpal

Guan Eng: Karpal said he would return

Karpal's death - DAP at a crossroads

Last interview with Tiger of Jelutong

Karpal - the man who was principled to a fault