20 minutes
THE Sri Lankan community in Malaysia is shocked to note the spate of arrests of Tamils in the country over alleged links to the defunct Sri Lanka-based LTTE.
This news is news to us and we cannot imagine that there are Malaysians ready for foreign adventures.
While there is a lot of humanitarian activity going on since the end of the ethnic conflict either through the government of Sri Lanka or through registered NGOs in Sri Lanka, we have never heard of activities attempting to regroup or launch the LTTE in Malaysia.
Those doing humanitarian work now from Malaysia, are also in fear, if this could be misconstrued by the police as supporting terrorists.
For many decades, the Tamil diaspora in Malaysia have been concerned about the fate of their brethren in Sri Lanka since the beginning of the civil war.
The Tamils in Malaysia are largely peace loving people and do not indulge in terrorism or terrorist activities.
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was formed by Sri Lankan Tamils in the late 70s as an instinctive reaction to protect the minority Tamils from allegedly being killed, kidnapped, sexually abused and raped in a sorry series of state sponsored terrorism by the then government of Sri Lanka.
The LTTE, a militant group, was said to have been initially trained by Yasser Arafat’s Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO), where both organisations sought freedom for their people from their oppressors.
Like the PLO, the LTTE was seen by some Tamils as a group who could protect the Tamils from harm. The Sri Lankan story was a genocide and a colossal humanitarian tragedy.
Against that backdrop the entire diaspora of Tamils worldwide sympathised with the Tamils who were the apparent victims of genocide.
It must be noted the worldwide Tamil diaspora sympathised with the Tamils in Sri Lanka and were not terrorists, and did not support or fuel terrorist activities.
The diaspora was merely showing support to bring an end to the suffering of their fellow Tamils.
Showing sympathy to the weak and those suffering is not a crime.
The LTTE has ceased to exist with the end of the ethnic conflict in 2009.
The Sri Lankan community in Malaysia hopes for a thorough and fair investigation followed by prompt action to either charge or release if there is no evidence.
The community also seconds the suggestion by the president of PKR, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim that while the police have to be tough on terrorism issues, Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma) needs to be amended, especially on the powers vested in the police.
Dr Raj Kumar Maharajah
Kajang
