Prof P Ramasamy appears to suggest that "indiscriminate killings will be brought to end" if the international community accepts that the LTTE should are allowed to rule over the north and east of Sri Lanka. He laments about how the international community has merely misunderstood the objectives of the LTTE.

I must begin by stressing that I am in complete agreement with Ramasamy for the need to reform the Malaysian political system and the need to revamp the Malaysian tertiary education system. However, as a Malaysian who has had the benefit of living in Colombo for four years and has both Sinhalese and Tamil friends, I cannot begin to express my utter disappointment with Ramasamy's latest attempt to recast the murderous LTTE as a heroic organisation.

In May 2001, I responded to his article Sri Lankan mission skittish over Tigers under the pseudonym of A Concerned Malaysian . I can only reinforce my concerns of five years ago.

Let us review a small sample of the litany of terrors unleashed by the LTTE over their 20 years of armed resistance. The LTTE reputedly pioneered the now pervasive technique of suicide bombing and utilised suicide bombers to murder Indian president Rajiv Gandhi and on another occasion, Sri Lankan president R Premadasa. They attempted to murder Sri Lanka's former president, Chandrika Kumaratunga, and recently succeeded in killing Sri Lanka's foreign minister, Lakshir Kadirgamar (himself an ethnic Tamil).

They have murdered Tamil political rivals and also murder civilians that stand in their way be they Sinhalese, Muslim or even Tamil. Their bombings (such as at the Sri Lankan Central Bank) murder and maim indiscriminately. They have consistently broken ceasefires negotiated by third parties and regularly field child soldiers. There exist Asiaweek reports dating to 2000 that speak of several countries accusing the LTTE of obtaining funding through the drug trade. In short, the facts show that the LTTE are a deceitful band of murderous cutthroats who have no qualms about killing anyone who disagrees with them.

Ramasamy must realise that he wins no sympathisers for Sri Lankan Tamils by claiming that the LTTE is the "champion and guardian of the Tamils". I am compelled to ask why he persists in defending the LTTE in spite of their murderous activities? If the allegations I bring forth are untrue, then I urge him to provide us with contradictory views from reputable media organisations.

I do not begrudge the Tamil people of Sri Lanka their legitimate right to oppose unjust policies but as I have said before, whatever noble ideologies they may have spawned, they were washed away the moment the LTTE took the first life. Sri Lankan Tamils must be freed from the iron grip of the LTTE and categorically reject violence. They must be allowed to emulate the strategies of one of the most beloved and successful sons of South Asia, Mahatma Gandhi. It is only through peaceful dissent that their grievances will receive the international attention they deserve.

Ramasamy has recently joined a political party that has epitomised peaceful political dissent in Malaysia for decades, the DAP. My mind immediately associates the DAP with principled men and women I greatly admire such as Lim Kit Siang, Teresa Kok and Lim Guan Eng. I commend Ramasamy for the brave stance he has taken against injustices in Malaysia. Rather than rooting for the LTTE, perhaps Ramasamy should reflect on how the peaceful political tactics of his new party can be utilised by the Sri Lankan Tamils in their struggle for justice.

Regardless of the reasons, unnecessary violence either by legitimate governments or rebel movements whether in Palestine, Iraq, Sri Lanka or in any other conflict must never be condoned, let alone praised.