Hindu Sangam disappointed with MB's decision - Malaysiakini

Hindu religious umbrella body Malaysian Hindu Sangam today expressed its disappointment with Selangor Menteri Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim over his decision to shelve the relocation of a 150-year-old temple from Section 19 to Section 23, Shah Alam.

"We are upset by his decision because as far as we are concerned, Section 23 is a suitable place," its president S Mohan told Malaysiakini.

Based on his personal visit to the proposed site, Mohan said he observed that it was located 600 metres away from the residential area and not 200 metres as announced by Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad.

"Besides, there is a playground and a hall between the site and the residential area. I also heard that there is a factory going to be built in between. So (technically) the temple will be nearer the factory rather than the houses," he said.

He added that the future of the temple could be bleak as there could possibly be no suitable area to relocate it in the Malay-majority Shah Alam.

"The decision made yesterday also shows that a Hindu temple cannot be built anywhere in Malaysia as we don't have many non-Muslim majority areas (except) for jungle sites or the river sites. It is not fair to the (Indian community)," said Mohan.

Wanting to meet Najib

The newly appointed head of Hindu Sangam however said the religious body was willing to talk to Abdul Khalid and Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to discuss about the matter and resolve the relocation issue that has been going on for the past 26 years.

"We would really love to meet the prime minister as he is also the right person to talk about this and we are waiting for (the opportunity)," he said.

In a related development, Mohan also expressed his dissatisfaction with the police and the Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail for not charging the people who staged a 'cow-head' protest last week.

"This is another sad part of it all. Until now, there is no action against the protesters. The AG said he wanted to come up with a report but we can't see anything so far. I don't know what is going to happen next," he said.

Menteri besar Abdul Khalid had yesterday put the temple relocation proposal on hold until the state could find another suitable place following a fierce objection from the residents during a two-hour public dialogue that was held in the morning.

Earlier today Najib said that he will not interfere in the matter as relocation of the temple was under state jurisdiction.