KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 26 — What does the word "Kutty” mean in a name? Two-time former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad who has been repeatedly called that in the past, gave his understanding of what it means in the High Court here today.

Dr Mahathir had sued Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi for defaming him in 2017 by implying that his original name is allegedly "Mahathir anak lelaki Iskandar Kutty” (which translates to: Mahathir son of Iskandar Kutty).

During hearing today, Zahid’s lawyer Mohamed Shahrul Fazli Kamarulzaman quizzed Dr Mahathir on the names "Mahathir”, "Mohamad”, "Iskandar” and "Kutty” by asking if they were Malay names and Muslim names.

Testifying, Dr Mahathir said his name "Mahathir” is a Malay name, adding that it refers to someone who is a Muslim.

"Yes, all Malays are Muslims,” he said.

Dr Mahathir also said that "Mohamad” and "Iskandar” are both Malay and Muslim names.

When asked if he knew that the word "Kutty” is not defined in the Kamus Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (a Malay language dictionary), Dr Mahathir said he does not know about this, but also said "Kutty” is not a Malay name.

Asked by Mohamed Shahrul Fazli if "Kutty” is a Muslim name or has no meaning, Dr Mahathir replied: "Yes, Kutty can be a Muslim name or non-Muslim name, but that is not my problem.”

Asked in summary about all three individual names in "Mahathir anak lelaki Iskandar Kutty”, Dr Mahathir replied: "The names Mahathir, Iskandar are Muslim and Malay names. Kutty, I don’t know.”

Earlier, Dr Mahathir confirmed Zahid did not directly use his name "Mahathir Mohamad” when making the remark "Mahathir anak lelaki Iskandar Kutty”, but said this is how politicians typically behave by not directly naming individuals in order to "save themselves from getting sued”.

But Dr Mahathir argued that Zahid was clearly referring to him.

He asserted that the public had believed Zahid’s "Kutty” remark and criticised him for allegedly lying about his actual name.

Dr Mahathir accused Zahid of creating the lie of having received information from the National Registration Department’s (NRD) director-general regarding an old identification card that purportedly showed his name to be "Mahathir anak lelaki Iskandar Kutty”, and also claimed that Zahid had fabricated that name.

Dr Mahathir said the NRD did not meet him to show him his old IC, adding that he did not ask the NRD to do so.

When Zahid’s lawyer showed a July 30, 2017 blog post titled "Mamak Memang Mahu "Melayu Mudah Lupa” from bigdogdotcom.wordpress.com which displayed a photograph, purportedly of Dr Mahathir’s old IC, the 99-year-old disputed this.

Dr Mahathir said it was merely a photograph which anyone could create and said he wanted to see the actual IC.

He confirmed that the photograph showed his old IC number, but said his old IC did not look like this.

Dr Mahathir’s lawyer Muhammad Rafique Rashid Ali then told the court that the legal team does not have the original old IC, but had just learnt last Friday that there is a plaque from the NRD in Dr Mahathir’s office containing phoographs of the front page of his old IC.

"When Tun held the post of prime minister for the second time from 2018 to 2020, Tun received a gift from the NRD which shows Tun’s old IC along with Tun’s family’s old IC,” Rafique said, presenting the glass plaque to the judicial commissioner. "This is not IC, but just photograph from NRD, gift to Tun.”

After taking a long look at the plaque, the judicial commissioner said that it showed the same photograph of an old IC as the one in the blog post, but without the words "Mahathir anak lelaki Iskandar Kutty” on top of the photograph.

With the question of whether NRD still kept the original copy of the old IC not having conclusive answers at this point of time, the judicial commissioner reserved this matter while Zahid’s lawyer continued to quiz Dr Mahathir.

Among other things, Dr Mahathir at one point said he did not dispute the possibility that he might have ancestors from Kerala, India but said: "But now, I am a Malay, registered as a Malay, a Muslim, and my name is Mahathir Mohamad.”

Later he also said that he does not deny that he has ancestors from India, but added: "But this does not mean that I insult Indians, Indian Muslims.”

Earlier today, Dr Mahathir said he is a Malay and Muslim since birth, and that his father "Mohamad bin Iskandar” is a Malay from Penang with parental ancestry traceable to Kerala, and that his mother "Wan Tempawan binti Wan Hanapi” is a Malay from Kedah.

The hearing before High Court judicial commissioner Gan Techiong continues tomorrow morning.