The attack on SL envoy in Malaysia:

Assailants roaming free

by Manjula Fernando

Independent observers have raised doubts over the manner in which Malaysian law enforcement is handling the probe into the attack on the Sri Lankan envoy by suspected LTTE supporters.

Both, Government and Opposition legislators in Sri Lanka, including TNA Leader R.Sampanthan condemned the shocking attack in the strongest possible manner when Parliament met on Monday, a day after the incident.Along with the top diplomat, the second Secretary of the Sri Lankan Mission was also beaten up by the mob.

Former Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama

High Commissioner Ibrahim Ansar

Although CCTV footage clearly showed a total of seven people rounding up and brutally attacking High Commissioner Ibrahim Ansar at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, only two persons, a businessman and a taxi driver, were arrested and produced before courts by the Police. It is said, in fact, the charges against the duo arrested were not connected to the Airport assault but to a similar incident at a Buddhist Temple, earlier.

The group had gone to the temple looking for former President and MP Mahinda Rajapaksa who was in Kuala Lumpur attending the 9th General Assembly of the International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP). Not finding him there, the men had resorted to violence, breaking into the temple and beating up a Buddhist monk.

Demonstrations

There had been pocket demonstrations against the presence of Rajapaksa in KL during the conference.

Despite newspaper reports that five of the attackers have been arrested by the Malaysian police, reliable diplomatic sources on Saturday said, five men were still at large. Only two of the arrested were produced before courts. Since the two arrested were also enlarged on bail, all seven attackers of the High Commissioner are now roaming free.

The Malaysian police told local media, they were investigating five suspects and four accomplices.

While this episode unfolded, the stories emanating from South India needs careful scrutiny. The Malaysian media highlighted that the High Commissioner Ansar’s attackers were supporters of South Indian fringe Tamil-nationalist party ‘Naam Tamizhar Katchi’ founded by Seeman who has pushed a pro-LTTE agenda to further his political career.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Tuesday told Parliament that the attack was carried out not by Sri Lankans but by Indian-origin Tamils affiliated to the Naam Tamizhar Katchi.

Stills of the assault

Responding to this, Seeman denied he instigated the attack on the Sri Lankan envoy. Yet, MDMK General Secretary Vaiko, another very vocal supporter of LTTE demanded the recall of the Sri Lankan envoy in Malaysia.

Crushed

He was quoted in the Hindu saying,’ He (Ansar) was instrumental in branding Tamils who support the Sri Lankan Tamil cause as members of the LTTE and handing them over to the Sri Lankan government.’ Vaiko also alleged, the High Commissioner was once instrumental in denying him a visa to attend a World Tamil Congress in Penang.

Former Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama who headed the Foreign Ministry when the Government Forces crushed the LTTE military wing in Sri Lanka said, a disturbing trend is seen developing in Malaysia. ‘A situation has been created in Malaysia to target Sri Lankan dignitaries and diplomats.’

Bogollagama equated the incident to those in several cities in the 1980s and 1990s, including Chennai where demonstrations against the dignitaries from Sri Lanka and our foreign missions were staged.

Trend

“This is a good time to realize the danger and act on it to nip this disturbing trend in the bud, rather than letting it grow in size and scale.”

He said, the mobsters’ popular slogan and protest was against Mahinda Rajapaksa but Mahinda Rajapaksa had been deputed top security during the visit. According to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe over a hundred security personnel had been guarding Mahinda Rajapaksa. Instead, the men targeted the unprotected High Commissioner when he arrived at the Airport to drop off a few dignitaries including Minister Daya Gamage and some Joint Opposition MPs.

The Former Minister said, the gangsters were trying to drive one point across, ‘Sri Lanka has been responsible for eliminating the LTTE, therefore, we act against any Sri Lankan representation in Malaysia.’ He said, the Sri Lankan High Commissioner in Malaysia is not a Buddhist or a Sinhalese, but, ‘one of our Muslim brothers’.

Designed

The Former Foreign Minister said, “He was attacked because he was Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner. These are pre-planned and designed, not spontaneous acts.” However, the Malaysian government has assured that the attack on High Commissioner Ansar was an isolated incident of political differences and not a terrorist attack.Malaysia’s Deputy Home Minister Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed said, the LTTE sympathisers had been arrested in Malaysia in the past, yet the incident involving the High Commissioner was political, the Malaysian media reported.

He was quoted as saying, ‘We are taking serious action against the perpetrators of the assault as we do not want to be seen as meddling into the internal affairs of Sri Lanka.’

Bogollagama said, when pressure mounted in 2009, the LTTE expanded its presence outside SL. “This is the beginning of a separatist agenda, they will mount pressure on the Government to shift its political direction particularly in relation to the Northern solution.” He said, the conspiracy to attack and all those who were involved in this must be probed.

“The seven men could not have come there alone, what about their support group, those who transported these people. After the incident these people escaped easily from a high security zone of Malaysia’s leading airport,” he pointed out.

He said, the Foreign Ministry should insist on total protection for its representatives. “When Sri Lankan cricket team was attacked in Lahore, while on a tour, the Pakistani government gave the best protection for the team, the officials and our diplomatic missions.”

In Delhi, when the Sri Lankan mission was targeted by demonstrators from Tamil Nadu, the Indian government kept surveillance and a security detail round the clock for a couple of years. That is because we are all bound by the universal protocol that covers diplomats and foreign representation in any country. He insisted that the Government should seek a total investigation from the government of PM Abdul Razak. Foreign Secretary Esala Weerakoon called on the Malaysian High Commissioner in Colombo on Monday to express its condemnation on the assault.

Action

Weerakoon said, the Government of Sri Lanka insists that immediate and swift action is taken to identify the perpetrators and take legal action; while also taking immediate measures to provide adequate security for the Sri Lanka High Commissioner and staff.

“I know compulsions are there, because of a sizable Tamil population in Malaysia,” Bogollagama said, adding that however, all Tamils are not LTTE supporters. “These mobsters were trying to give birth to a separatist agenda. Going by what has happened, in my view it is a serious act, threatening Sri Lanka’s presence in Malaysia.”

Disrepute

Bogollagama questioned, who is responsible for furthering LTTE separatist agenda in Malaysia and bringing disrepute to the Tamil community, at a time the Government here is reaching out with a broad based reconciliation process.

Responding to South Indian politician Vaiko’s comments over the incident, Bogollagama said, he was the most distrustful person in terms of the interests of the Tamils in Sri Lanka.

It was obvious that his agenda is a separated Sri Lanka. He is repeatedly endorsing the actions of the LTTE. Such elements do not want to see reconciliation efforts by a government of Sri Lanka bear fruit.