Yet another Umno Youth leader has come to Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s defence over his remarks against former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s Indian parentage.

In a statement, Umno Youth exco Shahril Hamdan pointed out that Mahathir himself had not felt it was wrong to describe Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak as a “Bugis pirate” and similarly mocking the latter’s lineage.

“Only after his (Mahathir) own lineage was raised that he overreacted and felt hurt,” he said.

Rather than focusing on one’s lineage, Shahril said the main issue should be on the impact of the leader’s actions on the Malays, and how far has the leader thought about their fate.

“It is in that context we should view the remarks (by Zahid) that Mahathir had been using the Malays.

“In fact, the more ‘U-turns’ are made by Tun, more people within and outside Umno will doubt the sincerity of his stand during his decades in power,” he added...