Independent politician Datuk Mohd Tamrin Abdul Ghafar has confirmed that the 36-paragraph statement entitled ‘Sultan Bukan Tuhan’ (Sultan is not God) was penned by him, without any malicious intentions.
He said in the statement he did not belittle the Malay rulers and that it was just his personal views based on history.
“For me, what I wrote was a reminder on known historical facts, the role of the Malaysian federal constitution, the rights of the people, the law and my advice to the current Malay rulers,” said Mohd Tamrin when contacted by Malay Mail yesterday.
On Monday, Mohd Tamrin’s statement went viral after it was posted on a blog.
Police have so far received close to 100 police reports lodged by individuals as well as representatives of Malay non-governmental organisations nationwide after finding it to be insulting the Malaysian royal institution.
Mohd Tamrin, who is the son of the late deputy prime minister Tun Abdul Ghafar Baba, lashed out at his critics for not understanding the role of the federal constitution as what he wrote was not against the law.
“I don’t see anything wrong about what I wrote. If these people are not happy with me, then they are welcome to take legal action against me,” said the 70-year-old former Barisan Nasional (BN) Batu Berendam MP and PAS member.
At least six paragraphs of the statement touched on the powers of the Malay rulers and their roles according to the federal constitution.
It also had advice to the rulers to be good examples to the people.
Most of the police reports were made citing unhappiness that the statement questioned the role of the Malaysian royal institution.
Mohd Tamrin denied knowing the person behind the blog who had posted his statement.
Meanwhile, a senior police officer said Bukit Aman will take over investigations and that the reports have been forwarded to a federal police special unit specialising in cybercrime in Bukit Aman. – MMO