Tamim likens Urimai to Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers amid temple row

Self-styled land activist Tamim Dahri Abdul Razak has compared United for the Rights of Malaysians Party (Urimai) to Sri Lanka’s Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

Tamim, who is sought by authorities over the desecration of a sacred Hindu symbol, made the comparison while sarcastically expressing pity for Urimai secretary Satees Muniandy, but did not elaborate on his comment.

In a post on Threads yesterday, Tamim said “Ingat semua, Urimai = LTTE”, and attached a screenshot of comments responding to Satees’ Hari Raya Aidilfitri greeting.

The screenshot showed one commenter rejecting Satees’ greeting, telling him to handle the issue of “illegal” temples while saying that Tamim and independent preacher Zamri Vinoth do not disturb legitimate temples.

Another commenter warned others to be careful as “Tamil wayang (theatre) is (on)”.

On Friday, Gerakan Rakyat Anti Haram (Garah) interim chief Haniff Khatri Abdulla said his group was painted in a bad light due to the actions of “immature and irresponsible third parties”.

However, he neither named the other parties involved nor addressed the actions of controversial individuals linked to the movement, such as Tamim.

Controversial activism

Tamim was supposed to be charged in Langkawi on Tuesday for stepping on a holy Hindu trident, or soolam, but prosecutors sought a postponement to allow them to bring him to court as he had fled the country.

On Thursday, Tamim agreed to surrender himself to the police on the condition that authorities demolish a list of allegedly “illegal” Hindu temples.

He made his statement on the Threads account for “Tanah Malaya”, an activist group he founded that actively collects and shares information about temples allegedly built without permission in Malaysia.

He previously courted controversy after he began demolishing the Sri Utchimalai Hindu temple in Rawang Perdana.

On March 6, PKR secretary-general Fuziah Salleh said that Tamim’s application had been received and that several procedures would need to be observed before it could be accepted.

But in a Facebook post on March 8, Tamim admitted that his publicly announced bid to join PKR was nothing more than a prank.

The next day, PKR said it was considering legal action against Tamim over the bogus membership application.

Free Malaysia Today reported PKR deputy secretary-general Aidi Amin Yazid as saying the party takes every membership application seriously and expects applicants to share its values.

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