Malaysia accuses ethnic Indians of links with LTTE

In a new twist to the ongoing spat between Malaysian authorities and agitating ethnic Indians...

In a new twist to the ongoing spat between Malaysian authorities and agitating ethnic Indians, the Government has accused protesters of seeking help from “terrorists and local gangsters” including the LTTE, a charge the campaigners said was an attempt to put them in jail under an archaic internal security law.

Malaysia’s Inspector-General of Police Musa Hassan said recent investigations have revealed that the campaign group,Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf), “has been actively canvassing for support and assistance from terrorist groups”. The links were discovered following intense police investigations in the past six months into Hindraf’s activities, reports here said.

“They are also lobbying for international support from India, the UK, the US, the UN and Europe,” Hassan said in a statement, accusing the group of giving a “twisted and distorted picture” to the international community on the status of Indians in Malaysia.

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Hindraf has accused the government of sidelining and denying the rights of the Indian community in the economic, education and public sectors. Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail went a step further, accusing Hindraf of suspected collusion with Sri Lanka’s LTTE. “Everybody in the world is worried if there is an LTTE connection,” he said, adding that police were investigating the issue.

On Friday morning, a Malaysian minister in an interview to PTI alleged that “some” organisation from India and local opposition parties here were behind the high-profile protests launched by ethnic Indians last month against alleged marginalisation of the community. “Someone is behind them from India… some organisation… to create civil disobedience,” the Malaysian Minister had said.

Reacting sharply to the allegations of terror links, Chairman of Hindraf, Waytha Moorthy said: “These accusations are an attempt to put us in jail” under Malaysia’s Internal Security Act (ISA) of 1960, passed by the British during their rule. The controversial act allows indefinite detention without trial.

Moorthy said the accusations were also an attempt by the government to “instill fear in people” so that they don’t join the agitation.