Vayyapuri Gopalasamy, popularly known as Vaiko, who heads the MDMK, was denied entry into Malaysia on Friday as he was found to be “a dangerous person posing threat to that country.” The maverick Tamil zealot, who reached Kuala lumpur Airport on Friday was detained by immigration and security officials as he figured in the list of people who were not welcome in Malaysia.
Vaiko reached Kuala lumpur with a valid visa issued by the Malaysian embassy last week, according to a release issued by his party office.
“He went to Malaysia to attend the marriage reception of the daughter of P Ramasamy, the Deputy Chief Minister of Penang. Vaiko had a valid visa issued by the Malaysian embassy last week,” said the release. The MDMK leader was accompanied by Arunagiri, his private secretary.
Immigration officials told him that he figured in the list of people who posed threat to Malaysia. On landing at Kuala lumpur, he was taken by the immigration officials, who told Vaiko that he was not welcome to the country as his name figured in the list of people who were not to be entertained in Malaysia.
Speaking to his partymen over telephone from Kuala lumpur, Vaiko said he was asked by the immigration officials about lTTE and some cases against him pending in Sri lanka. (Vaiko is a known sympathiser of lTTE, the Tamil terrorists who are fighting for the disintegration of Sri lanka to carve out a separate Tamil Eelam in the island nation. He was also close to the slain lTTE chief V Prabhakaran and had made it known whenever he addresses public meetings). It may be remembered that Malaysia has a considerable Tamil population.
The MDMK office said that Ramasamy, the Deputy Chief Minister , who had come to receive Vaiko told him that his name figured in the list of dangerous persons. Though the Chief Minister of the State himself intervened in the matter, the immigration officials stood their ground and Vaiko was taken to a room where others could not meet him. The immigration officials had instruction from the Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia not to allow the firebrand Tamil leader inside the country. The MDMK office said that Vaiko would be put in a flight to Chennai which leaves Kuala lumpur late Friday night so that he would be back in India early Saturday morning.