There’s no attempt to revive LTTE – Ramasamy
Photo Source: Free Malaysia Today
By Dr P. Ramasamy
THE counter terrorism unit of the Malaysian police said that they have evidence of links with the LTTE in the arrests the two DAP state assemblymen and five others in a special operation on October 10, 2019.
All of them are held in Bukit Aman police headquarters for 28 days under Sosma, Special Offences (Security Measures) Act for further investigation.
On the arrests of the two elected representatives the police revealed that they took part in an event last November whereas LTTE heroes were glorified and pamphlets and brochures were distributed to the participants.
On the five others that were arrested comprised of a taxi driver, a junk material trader, a restaurant owner, a technician.
Among them, two were involved in an attack against the Sri Lankan High Commissioner in 2016 at the KLIA airport.
Apparently there were plans to attack the Sri Lankan High Commission in Kuala Lumpur.
The police are confident that they have evidence linking the arrested with the attempt to revive the LTTE in Malaysia.
If this is so, why arrest them under Sosma, they could be charged under the Penal Code which provides bail, legal representation and evidence will have to be scrutinised in the court of law.
As I have commented numerous times in the past, there is no such thing as the LTTE today.
It was decimated in 2009 during the final stages of civil war in Sri Lanka, many of its top leaders were killed in the war.
Sympathy for Tamils in Sri Lanka does not tantamount to the support of the defunct organisation.
Nostalgia in the form of war memorials for the innocent victims does not translate as links with the LTTE.
Police allegations that some of the individuals arrested were trying to revive the LTTE do not make any sense at all.
Why is there necessity to revive a dead organisation to take up a cause in distant land, Sri Lanka.
The only crime of the two DAP elected representatives was their participation in a war memorial in Malacca last year.
Are grieving and paying respect for the dead in the Sri Lankan civil war a crime?
Can’t the Tamils empathise with the sufferings of their kind in Sri Lanka, victims of ethnic genocide.
Is it alright for Malay-Muslims to empathise with Palestinians, Rohingyas, but Tamils are not allowed to identify with their fellow Tamils?
If the police have evidence of imminent attack by some of those arrested, charge them in an open court backed with evidence and witnesses.
The police do not have the luxury of having evidence and yet reluctant to prosecute them in an open court.
Why use the dreaded Sosma that completely puts the detainees at the mercy of their captors?
Didn’t the new government of PH promised Malaysians that Sosma and other obnoxious legislations will be things of the past?
There no such thing as attempts to resuscitate the LTTE in Malaysia; it doesn’t not make sense at all. Extremely far-fetched, perhaps a figment of imagination.
Police arrests did not take place in isolation. Over the last few years, there has been systematic campaign through the social media to accuse certain individuals who were opposed to the fugitive Zakir Naik as the work of LTTE supporters.
Some prominent individuals have gone to the extent of accusing the government for being silent on the LTTE supporters but hard on those who sympathised with ISIS or Islamic State.
Moreover the sliding support for Bersatu amongst the Malays has been concern to those in power. The recent Malay dignity congress highlighted the fact that the government gave in too much to the non-Malays.
Thus, the recent arrests of those with links with the LTTE was a political move to neutralise sections of the Malay right wing that the government was fair in cracking down on trouble-makers irrespective of their background.
*Dr P. Ramasamy is Penang Deputy Chief Minister II.
*The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the writer and does not necessarily represent the views of The Hindu Press (THP)
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