LANGKAWI: Be prepared to face the consequences - this is the warning given by Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak to the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf), which he described as an extremist group.
The Deputy Prime Minister said the group would be subjected to the same law that had been taken against other militant, extremist and fanatic groups.
09/12: Ethnic Indian leader lodges police complaint against M'sia's PM
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'We have got zero links with terrorism. We have got zero links with LTTE. We do not support violence. We are a non violent group,' said Mr Uthayakumar
AN ethnic Indian leader filed a police report on Saturday against Malaysia's prime minister, the attorney general and police chief for claiming his protest group has possible terrorist links.
'These allegations' I just laugh at them,' P. Uthayakumar told reporters after lodging the criminal report against Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and the others at a police station in a Kuala Lumpur neighborhood.
Also included in the complaint are Law Minister Nazri Aziz and the state-controlled media.
Mr Abdullah, Attorney General Abdul Gani Patail and Inspector General of Police Musa Hassan have claimed in public statements that Mr Uthayakumar's Hindu Rights Action Force, or Hindraf, is being investigated for possible ties to terrorism, including the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam of Sri Lanka.
The LTTE has been branded a terror group by the United States and European Union.
'We have got zero links with terrorism. We have got zero links with LTTE. We do not support violence. We are a non violent group,' said Mr Uthayakumar, a human rights lawyer, outside the police station.
A dozen supporters gathered around him holding portraits of India's independence leader and icon of nonviolence, Mohandas K. Gandhi.
'I have never met anyone from LTTE in my life,' he said.
The government has stepped up its crackdown on Hindraf since it organized a rally by Malaysia's ethnic Indians on Nov 25 to protest the community's economic plight and alleged racial discrimination by the Malay majority government.
At least 20,000 people participated in the unprecedented protest, which has triggered fears of ethnic unrest in this multiracial country.
On Friday, the government revoked the license of Hindraf Enterprise, a company set up by the group to receive donations.
The state Companies Commission of Malaysia said Hindraf Enterprises was conducting unlawful business 'prejudicial to national security and public order'.
Indians form eight per cent of Malaysia's 27 million people and are at the bottom of the social and economic scale. Malays make up about 60 per cent and control the government. Ethnic Chinese are 25 per cent and dominate business.
Hindraf is demanding equality and fair treatment for Indians, saying an affirmative action programme that gives preferential treatment to Muslim Malays is tantamount to racial discrimination.
'They have gone overboard when they say we have links with terrorism. They are trying to divert the issue' of Indian grievances, Mr Uthayakumar said.
He said he feared the government would use the allegation to arrest him under the Internal Security Act, which allows indefinite detention without trial.
In the police complaint Mr Uthayakumar accused Mr Abdullah and the four other parties of making 'false, malicious seditious, criminally defamatory, racially inciting and inflammatory statements'.
Such a complaint is usually followed by a police investigation. Criminal charges are then filed by the police against the accused if necessary.
Mr Uthayakumar said he does not expect the police to take his complaint seriously. But he said he did it as a symbolic gesture, and challenged the government to produce evidence within 24 hours to show he has terrorist links.
He has also threatened to sue the government leaders for defamation to seek 10 million ringgit (S$14.4 million) in damages.
'Extremist group'
Earlier on Saturday, Malaysia's Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak had called Hindraf an extremist group whose actions have gone overboard to the extent of threatening national security.
'Hindraf has exceeded the limits, many people say Hindraf has gone beyond the tolerable limit...they have violated the law,' he said.
Mr Najib however, said the government was leaving it to the relevant authorities to take appropriate action as provided for under the law against Hindraf leaders and supporters.
'If there are evidence Hindraf is involved in violence and terrorism, the government will not hesitate to take harsh action,' he told a press conference on the final day of the five-day Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace 2007 Exhibition.
Mr Najib said the warning was not only confined to Hindraf but also to all extremist groups, be they Izlamic, Christian or Hindu religious groups.
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