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Friday 11 September 2009

Shah Alam MP dares Umno to punish members involved in cow head protest

By Neville Spykerman - The Malaysian Insider

SHAH ALAM, Sept 10 – PAS will not hesitate to take disciplinary actions against any of its members if it has proof they took part in the cow-head protest against the relocation of the Hindu temple on Aug 28.

Khalid Samad said the abuse of the severed cow head is clearly un-Islamic and those with evidence should give the names and identity card numbers of these alleged PAS members.

“We will take action if the allegations are true, but will Umno do the same?”

Unlike Umno, the Shah Alam MP said, no PAS leaders had endorsed and supported the cow head protestors.

He said former mentri besar Datuk Seri Khir Toyo has issued a challenged to him to prove that Umno was behind the cow head protest.

Khalid pointed out that Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Datuk Noh Omar had visited residents in Section 23 in August and wanted to get an injunction to stop the relocation of the temple.

And, Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein had met the protesters just days after they held the protests.

“What other evidence does Dr Khir Toyo want?”

The cow head protest outside the state assembly resulted in widespread condemnation, not only because the animal is sacred to Hindu but because the protesters had marred the image of tolerant Malaysia.

The protest is also widely believed to have been politically motivated to damage the credibility of the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) state government.

Khalid said the Sri Maha Mariamman temple committee is scheduled to visit the proposed alternative site for the temple in to Section 23, on Monday.

The 150-year temple in Section 19 was once part of the Sungai Renggam Estate but today is in the middle of a Muslim majority housing estate.

The Selangor Development Corporation had developed the land surrounding the temple and the problem had persisted for over 25 years.

The Muslim residents of Section 23 had resisted an initial proposed site which they claimed was to near their home but said they have no objection to a second site further away.

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