Sri Lanka behind my detention in Malaysia - Vaiko

MDMK general secretary Vaiko on Saturday alleged that the Sri Lankan government was behind the decision of the Malaysian government denying him entry into the country.

“I participated in the International Tamil Conference in Penang in 2014-15 and we adopted a resolution that Sri Lanka should be tried in the International Court of Justice for its atrocities against Tamils. So, the Lankan government is keen on preventing me from visiting other countries. They want to suppress the killing of Tamils,” Mr. Vaiko told reporters about his detention in the Kuala Lumpur Airport on Friday.

He said that he decided not to eat anything because he was treated like a prisoner. “They boarded me onto a flight at 9.30 p.m. and even refused to return my passport. They handed it over to the pilot,” he said.

Asked whether the Indian officials in Malaysia offered any help, he said the Indian High Commissioner to Malaysia M. Gurumurthi spoke to him and expressed his concern. “But he could not do anything. He came to know about my detention only through media reports,” he said.

Mr. Vaiko said he was surprised by the claim that he was a security threat to Malaysia. “I am an ordinary person and they have made me big overnight,” he quipped.

Denying that he was treated like a criminal, he said, “but the common, genuine courtesy was lacking.” Mr. Vaiko said he would write to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to seek explanation from the Malaysian government for insulting an Indian citizen.

TMC condemns incident

Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC) president G.K. Vasan on Saturday said that Malaysia’s denial of entry to MDMK leader Vaiko was unfortunate.

In a statement, he said that Mr. Vaiko had travelled legally from India and urged the Central government to make sure such incidents did not happen again.

Source: The Hindu

-Agencies