PUTRAJAYA: Persatuan Perpaduan Rumpun Bugis Melayu Malaysia has demanded Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to retract his statement allegedly referring to the Bugis community as “pirates”.
The association’s deputy president Tasman Matto said the Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia’s (PPBM) chairman should make a public apology as his statement was offensive.
“We are disappointed that Dr Mahathir called us pirates and that we should return to Sulawesi.
“Why should we return to Sulawesi? We are all Malaysians.
“What if we asked him where he came from? He should not be playing the racial card in his politics as others will also raise question of his ancestry,” he told reporters after staging a protest in front of Perdana Leadership Foundation, here today.
It was widely known that Dr Mahathir's paternal ancestry is from the state of Kerala in India.
Earlier, about 200 Bugis descendants nationwide turned up for the protest.
The group chanted "Bugis bukan lanun" (Bugis are not pirates) and “Mahathir sudah nyanyuk” (Mahathir has gone senile) while holding placards supporting the leadership of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
Tasman added that as a former leader who has helmed the country for 22 years, Dr Mahathir should portray a good example instead of causing disharmony among the people.
“When he was prime minister, he had never referred the Bugis people as pirates. But why only now that he makes such a provocative statement?
“We urge him to take back his statement and make an apology to the Bugis community,” he said, adding that the association was also planning to lodge a police report against Dr Mahathir.
He said at the moment, the association will continue to protest if Dr Mahathir failed to apologise.
“We will not set a timeframe for him to do so. We will give him time,” he said, adding that there are about one million Bugis people in Malaysia.
When asked why the protest was held on a public holiday, Tasman said this was to consider the traffic and ensure the safety of the association’s members.
On Oct 14, Dr Mahathir had allegedly said that Malaysia was being led by a prime minister who came from Bugis pirates during the “Sayangi Malaysia, Hapuskan Kleptokrasy” rally organised by Pakatan Harapan.
His statement had since sparked outrage among the Bugis community.