DAP said white paper on terror-related issues must not be limited to LTTE, shall include Zakir Naik

 

DAP was heavily linked to the defunct terrorist group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) as several of its party members were arrested by the local authorities for attempting to resurrect the movement.

 

Notably, DAP assemblymen G Saminathan (Gadek) and P Gunasekaran (Seremban Jaya) were among the arrested suspects.

 

Consequently, two senior DAP lawyers Ramkarpal Singh and RSN Rayer announced that they will file a legal challenge to the detention without trial for the two arrested assemblymen. Ramkarpal and Rayer are parliamentary members for Bukit Gelugor and Jelutong respectively.

 

 

Apart from DAP members, controversial Islamic preacher Dr Zakir Naik was one of the top persons in the topic of LTTE.

 

Several Indian Pakatan Harapan Youth leaders came forward and demanded the police to clarify on whether the arrest of alleged LTTE supporters was aimed at vocal critics of Zakir Naik.

 

PAS urged the government to come out with a white paper on LTTE to expose the group activities.

 

DAP agreed to the idea but suggested that the white paper shall not be limited to LTTE, instead it should also cover other terror-related issues in the country like the Islamic State fighters in Syria and Zakir Naik.

 

Nevertheless, DAP disagreed with the usage of Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma) on the suspects.

 

 

When it comes to media share, Malaysia Gazette was the most active medium to report on LTTE, with 60 articles in the past week.

 

Sinar Harian came in second with 53 articles on LTTE. Meanwhile, MalaysiaKini took the third position with only 42 articles, 18 articles behind Malaysia Gazette.

 

The issue of DAP members linked with LTTE does not seem to be slowing down anytime soon in the media, primarily due to the usage of Sosma for the suspect arrests. This led to the debates by political leaders on the necessity of Sosma.

 

In addition, Bukit Aman’s Special Branch Counter Terrorism Division (E8) principal assistant director Datuk Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay assured the public that the authorities will not stop their investigations on the LTTE issue just because it involves DAP.