POLICE arresting two DAP leaders for alleged involvement with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was met with skepticism and derision by Indian leaders from the coalition.

In a joint statement, they said it was beyond comprehension why the two state assemblymen – Malacca executive councillor and Gadek assemblyman G. Saminathan and Seremban Jaya assemblyman P. Gunasekaran – together with five others were detained under The Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma), which allows for detention without trial for 28 days.

“Sosma was supposed to have been removed by the PH government but its abuse continues.

“It is highly irresponsible to detain and charge them when no links with the LTTE exists.

“Talk of the revival of the LTTE does not make any sense in the Malaysian context.

“We urge the government to immediately release without condition those arrested.

“Their detention is nothing but a gross travesty of justice. Arrests and detention cannot be justified under the new PH government,” they said in the statement.

The PH leaders who signed the statement are: Penang Deputy Chief Minister II P Ramasamy, Selangor executive councillor V. Ganabatirau, Batu Gajah MP V. Sivakumar, Jelutong MP RSN Rayer, Batu Kawan MP Kasthuri Patto, Batu Uban assemblyman A Kumaresan, Bagan Dalam assemblyman Satees Muniandy, Bukit Gasing assemblyman Rajiv Rishyakaran, Sabai assemblyman Kamache Doray Rajoo, Senator R. Suresh Singh, deputy minister and Sungai Buloh MP Sivarasa Rasiah, P. Prabakaran - MP for Batu, Sentosa assemblyman Gunaraj George, Johor executive councillor S. Ramakrishnan, Bukit Gelugor MP Ramkarpal Singh and Klang MP Charles Santiago.

Police said the seven people, including the two DAP assemblymen, were arrested today for attempting to revive the defunct LTTE, said Bukit Aman today.

One of them is also accused of planning with another person, who is still at large, to attack the Sri Lankan High Commission in Kuala Lumpur.

The leaders in their statement said the LTTE as a Tamil liberation force was decimated in Sri Lanka during the final stage of civil war in 2009 with most its leaders killed or imprisoned.

They noted that more than 10 years have elapsed since the civil war.

“During the height of the civil war in Sri Lanka, Tamils globally had a natural sympathy for the Tamil cause in Sri Lanka, because it was bigger than the armed struggle waged by the LTTE.

“Just like the Muslims in Malaysia who were sympathetic to the cause of Palestinians, Rohingyas and others, Tamils had natural ethnic and emotional ties with their kind in Sri Lanka,” they said in the statement. – October 10, 2019.