Muslim prisoner fast for Lankan Tamils

(October 08, Chennai, Sri Lanka Guardian) Tamils fighting for their Eelam in Sri Lanka found some unexpected support from inside the prison walls in Chennai. Kunnamkudi R. M. Haniffa, former president of the banned outfit Jihad committee, who is now in Puzhal jail in connection with the train blasts in Tamil Nadu of 1997, on Tuesday observed a token fast in support of the sufferings of Tamils in the island nation, jail sources said in Chennai.

Jail officials said that he started his fast on Tuesday morning and finished it by evening, like most politicians. “He claims that he wanted to show his support for Tamil in Sri Lanka. It may be noted that police had arrested him for triggering blasts in trains,” said a senior jail official. Haniffa was just angling for some publicity in the name of Sri Lankan Tamils, noted a jail official. “Everybody is now talking about Lankan Tamils. So he is also doing the same,” observed the official.

Haniffa has remained politically active inside the jail. He had despatched a letter to UPA chairperson Ms Sonia Gandhi seeking the release of as many as twelve convicts, who were not directly linked to any explosive cases, but undergoing life term in Tamil Nadu jails - Sri Lanka Guardian