Umno Youth chief Hishamuddin Hussein said today he was offended by a controversial DAP article which described his grandfather as an employee of the British colonial government.

He said this in response to queries on a police report lodged by DAP over a cartoon on the Umno Youth website which allegedly depicted several opposition leaders as pro-Communists.

"If they feel offended by the cartoon. Imagine how I felt when their article implied that my grandfather (Onn Jaafar) was a mere commandant in the police force under the British administration," he told a press conference in Kuala Lumpur.

On Sunday, DAP lodged a police report on the cartoon which superimposed the faces of several opposition leaders onto a book about Communist Party Malaya (CPM) leader Chin Peng.

'It's just a cartoon'

The cartoon was in response to an article by DAP international affairs secretary Ronnie Liu on the struggle for independence.

The article, posted on the DAP website , earned the wrath of Umno leaders by stating that numerous individuals had been part of the struggle, including the exiled Chin Peng.

It also stated that many Umno leaders had been high-ranking civil servants of the British prior to independence.

Meanwhile, Hishamuddin, who stressed that it was irresponsible of DAP to come out with the article, suggested that the opposition party should not get overly excited about the cartoon.

"They are upset? It's just a cartoon...If they are offended by the cartoon, we will take it out. That's not a problem," he said.

Among the faces on the cartoon were that of former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim, DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang, party chairperson Karpal Singh and Liu himself. Also included were PAS top leaders Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat and Abdul Hadi Awang.

Contacted later, Liu said Hishamuddin was trying to downplay the impact of the cartoon.

"By putting the faces of opposition leaders on Chin Peng's book and calling us 'communists forever' is malicious.

"It is a distortion of facts and this damages the credibility of Umno Youth," he added.