Indian MP held for Tiger support

A defiant Vaiko is taken away

NEW DELHI, India -- A leading Indian politician has accused state government officials of abusing new anti-terror laws after being arrested for expressing support for Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels.

The leader of the regional MDMK party, known as Vaiko, was arrested on Thursday as he stepped off a commercial flight at Chennai in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

As many as 2,000 other MDMK members -- most of them Tamil -- were also picked up across the state ahead of Vaiko's return.

The arrest follows a speech that Vaiko allegedly delivered in June in support of the Tiger rebels -- the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) -- who are banned as a terrorist group in India.

The LTTE have been fighting for two decades in Sri Lanka for a separate homeland for the country's ethnic Tamils. They are currently observing a permanent truce ahead of anticipated peace talks with the majority Sinhalese government.

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Vaiko, who will appear before a magistrate on Friday, hit out at Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa and accused him of launching a "political vendetta" against him and his party.

"Ours is a party committed to peace and democracy," he was quoted as saying by the Times of India news network on Friday. "We will mobilize public opinion and continue the relentless fight until Jayalalithaa's government is overthrown."

He also attacked his arrest under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA). Vaiko said the Tamil Nadu government had abused the emergency legislation which was introduced to counter cross-border militancy from Pakistani soil.

Thousands of MDMK members were also arrested

"I am a supporter of the LTTE. I have expressed my views [on the issue] in parliament and I am consistent about it,'' he said in the Times report.

"Can you speak of Palestinians without referring to the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO)? Can you speak of Northern Ireland without referring to the Irish Republican Army (IRA)?'' he asked.

Vaiko's arrest may prove awkward for New Delhi as the MDMK is a partner of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's ruling coalition.

The arrest, which coincides with a visit to Colombo by newly appointed foreign minister Jashwant Sinha, could also complicate the Sri Lanka peace process.

Sri Lanka is considering lifting the ban on the LTTE but New Delhi has made it clear it will not follow suit.

India holds the rebels responsible for the assassination of Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in May, 1991.