They gathered about 10am in front of the Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC) where Rajapaksa is attending the 9th International Conference of Asian Political Parties.
The crowd of about 100 people included PKR’s G Manivannan, MIC Youth Chief C Sivaraajh and DAP’s A Sivanesan.
The group chanted “Get out, Rajapaksa” and their presence, which spilled out onto the road, caused a traffic jam in the area.
Manivannan told the crowd that today, he and the other leaders were putting aside their political beliefs to “represent the Indian and Tamil community in Malaysia”.
He questioned the last minute announcement of Rajapaksa’s arrival by the government and questioned why he had been given “special treatment like a leader”.
“We are urging Prime Minister Najib Razak to take immediate action and send Rajapaksa back to Sri Lanka,” he told the crowd.
Sivaraajh echoed Manivannan’s calls, saying Rajapaksa was a “mass murderer who had caused the death of hundreds of thousands of people” in the Sri Lankan civil war.
Sivanesan vowed to continue fighting against Rajapaksa’s presence in the country, “wherever he goes”.
“We will find out where he is staying and ambush his hotel.”
A participant who refused to be identified, asked why the police barred them from entering the PWTC, but allowed a “murderer” to enter.
“Are we going to let a war criminal from Sri Lanka enter Malaysia? We are a peaceful country.”
Umno Youth exco member Armand Azha Hanifah, however, urged the group to disperse.
“We respect whatever they (the protesters) are asking. We hope they will disperse. Rajapaksa is not in the building. He has been asked to leave, for the safety of other delegates,” said Armand.
The protesters then burned an effigy of Rajapaksa on the road, resulting in motorists, stuck in the traffic jam, to blare their horns.
Rajapaksa’s presence has drawn flak from various quarters, including from Penang Deputy Chief Minister II P Ramasamy, who said the former “unleashed terror on innocent Tamils in the north and east of Sri Lanka during the civil war”.
The civil war, which broke out in 1983, lasted 26 years, before the Sri Lankan military defeated the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (Tamil Tigers) in 2009. It saw over 100,000 civilians killed.
Both factions were accused of human rights violations, where instances of starvation, torture, the recruitment of child soldiers, and civilian-targeted attacks including suicide bombing, were rampant.
The UN Human Rights Commission had last year urged the government to investigate disappearances including those of people who were alleged to have been secretly abducted by state-backed groups and paramilitaries.