BUTTERWORTH — Penang Deputy Chief Minister II Prof. Dr. P. Ramasamy will be at the Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim) in Putrajaya tomorrow (Monday 30 July) to discuss allegations that he has links with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
Ramasamy said the 3.30pm meeting organised by the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs) Datuk Dr Mujahid Yusof Rawa will also be attended by Perlis Mufti Datuk Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin.
“The mediation will be done by Datuk Dr Mujahid (pic) and this is a closed-door meeting. The meeting is an effort taken by Datuk Dr Mujahid, I am open to this and I respect Datuk Dr Mujahid’s efforts. This (discussion) is not an extraordinary issue. If there is an opportunity for discussion, we can meet and perhaps resolve, or at the very least, this is a meeting I welcome,” he told reporters after attending an event where free spectacles were given away by Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow to 500 senior citizens and schoolchildren.
Asked whether religious speaker Dr Zakir Naik would participate in the meeting, Dr Ramasamy said the meeting did not involve Zakir.
Commenting on the demonstrations by several groups urging him to resign as Penang Deputy Chief Minister outside the Komtar Building in George Town on Friday, Ramasamy said this was normal in an open political environment and he had no problems as long as they were in compliance with the law.
He said the matter (about his alleged links to the LTTE) was under police for investigation. “The police had taken my statement last week. I have not received any threats on the matter. If I receive threats, I will report them to the police,” he said.
Prior to this, Mujahid had said that he was willing to offer himself as “mediator” in resolving the feud between the Perlis mufti and Ramasamy. This came about after the Perlis Mufti through a Facebook posting had suggested that both Ramasamy and Zakir have an open debate to determine who was the “real terrorist”.
Ramasamy was reported to have shared a photograph of himself taken with an LTTE member, V. Gopalasamy, at a recent wedding. Over 50 police reports were then lodged against him for allegedly supporting the LTTE terrorist group.
It was reported that controversial preacher Zakir Naik, who has permanent resident status in Malaysia, is wanted by the Indian government for alleged money-laundering and terrorism.
–BERNAMA
