Malaysia should support resolution on Sri Lanka - MIC

Malaysia should support the resolution submitted at the United Nation for action to be taken against Sri Lanka for its war crimes, said Malaysian Indian Congress(MIC) president Datuk Seri G. Palanivel.

He said the MIC supported the move by the United States, Europe and the other countries while Malaysia, too, should support the resolution which calls for an investigation into the wartime conduct of Sri Lanka.

On Tuesday, an MIC Youth delegation led by its leader T. Mohan submitted a memorandum in support of the party’s stand to Deputy Foreign Minister Datuk A Kohilan Pillay in Putrajaya.

He said Indians in Malaysia wanted a probe into alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka during the civil war between government forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ellam (LTTE), which ended in 2009.

“Malaysia has always supported resolutions against human rights abuses and it is very sad to see pictures of the LTTE leader Prabhakaran’s 12-year-old son who was brutally shot dead,” Mohan said.

MIC central working committee member S. Vell Paari said there was cause for Malaysia to support the resolution as many Malaysians have direct blood relations with Sri Lankan Tamils.

“In supporting the resolution, Malaysia will send the message that it does not condone human rights abuses,” he said.

Meanwhile, an Indian non-governmental-organisation, Group of Concern Citizens took a full-page advertisement in Tamil newspapers Wednesday, calling on UN secretary-general Ban Ki Moon, who is arriving here later in the day, to act against Sri Lanka.

“We have faith in you”, the group said in their advertisement in Tamil Nesan and Malaysia Nanban.

The UN Human Rights Council is due to vote later this week on a US motion calling for a probe into alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka.

The Sri Lankan government commissioned its own investigation into the war last year and the UN draft resolution calls on the government to implement its recommendations, the Star reports.