Tun M: Umno never advocated burning bibles

He said what Datuk Ibrahim Ali, president of the Malay right-wing group Perkasa, said did not reflect the views of Umno.

"Ibrahim is not a member of Umno. He may support Umno but he is not a spokesman for Umno," he said in his latest entry on his blog, www.chedet.cc.

Mahathir said it was unfortunate that Ibrahim should suggest burning the newly-printed bibles.

"That may be the way we rid ourselves of unwanted publications. It cannot be done for the Bible any more than it can be done for the Quran.

"But what Ibrahim said does not reflect the views of Umno. Unfortunately, some politicians would like to make it so in order to gain political mileage," he said.

Mahathir said he regarded the attempt to imply Ibrahim’s support for Umno "to mean what he says is what is subscribed to by Umno as mischievous".

He said that while Malaysians could have political differences, they should not resort to religious differences to win elections.

"It is a double-edged sword and those who live by the sword shall die by the sword.

"Let this controversy be settled behind closed doors by responsible people.

Let not the extremists take over and exploit religious issues. It may be a denial of freedom of speech but freedom even in a liberal democracy has limits if we really want democracy to work.