Police yesterday recorded Baling Umno Wanita chief Mashitah Ibrahim's statement over her accusation against the Chinese community in Kedah of burning the Quran.

 

Mashitah had her statement recorded at the Dangi Wangi district police headquarters for some 90 minutes, according to Agenda Daily .

 

The former deputy minister was accompanied by her husband Abdul Shakor Abu Bakar and gave her statement to an officer from Bukit Aman.

 

According to the report, Mashitah declined to comment when contacted about the matter.

 

On Nov 26, Malaysiakini reported Mashitah's claim at the Umno General Assembly that the Chinese community in Kedah had burnt the Quran "page by page" during a prayer ritual.

 

She then went on to say: ""Do you feel challenged? Sensitive? Sad? Frustrated?... If you feel that way, why not voice out? Don't be quiet".

 

Her remarks earned her a torrent of criticism and police reports for supposedly inciting racial disharmony.

 

Subsequently, police questioned a Malaysiakini editor and journalist over the report.

 

The case was investigated under Section 505 of the Penal Code for racial incitement.

 

Two days before Mashitah's controversial claim, Kedah Menteri Besar Mukhriz Mahathir ( left ) had denied that any copies of the Quran were ever burnt.

 

In a statement dated Nov 24, Mukhriz said pieces of pages from the Quran were discovered in Alor Setar which and investigation showed that they were torn by a mentally unstable Malay man.

 

The menteri besar also condemned the actions of three men who wrongly attacked another man over the torn Quran and damaged the shops there, instructing the local council there to fix them.