He said the Indonesian leader had personally expressed this to him during an informal discussion at the Developing-8 (D-8) summit here, yesterday.
“As an Indonesian vice-president of Bugis descent, he is deeply offended by the words, which seem to have insulted the Bugis people, whether they were from Malaysia or Indonesia,” he told Malaysian journalists here, today.
Zahid, who is currently in Turkey leading the Malaysian delegation at the summit, said the term ‘pirate’ used by Mahathir was inappropriate, as history has proven that some of the Malay warriors who kept peace in the archipelago once were also of Bugis descent.
He said, in fact, the community was deliberately labelled as ‘pirates’ by the colonialists to downplay the contribution and role the Malay warriors played in fighting colonialism.
“So whoever labels Bugis as pirates, they are doing the same as what the colonialists had once done, their incorrect views not far apart,” he said.
Zahid, who is also Home Minister, said the authorities had received numerous police reports from individuals and associations urging the authorities to take action on the issue.
“The police will look into all the reports made by them,” he said.
Several parties representing the Bugis community in Malaysia earlier demanded Mahathir openly apologise for making the statement.
Mahathir, at a gathering attended by opposition leaders in Petaling Jaya on Oct 14, allegedly described Prime Minister Najib Razak as a descendant of Bugis pirates.