‘I want my father’s grave back’

Claiming to have been ignored and belittled by the Negeri Sembilan menteri besar and state MIC, ex-civil servant K Batumalai now wants the prime minister to help him.

PETALING JAYA: A distraught retired civil servant whose father’s grave, along with 39 others, is now “inaccessible” is demanding that Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak intervene and resolve the issue.

K Bathumalai’s father, an ex-policeman in the British army, died in 1998 and was buried in the Kuala Sawa cemetery.

The cemetery is now the Taman Zed housing estate near Rantau in Negeri Sembilan.

“My family and I cannot even do prayers for my father since his body has vanished in the name of development. We have six family members including my father buried there,” said Batumalai, adding that the Taman Zed developers had built houses on top of the graveyards without relocating the graves.

According to Batumalai, 65, before Taman Zed became a housing area, it was a cemetery belonging to Ulu Sawah Estate.

“It was an 100-year-old Hindu cemetery which was maintained by the Kuala Sawah Muniswaran temple.

“In 1988 the state government gazetted the 3.6-acre cemetery land.

“We were shocked when in 2004, the land was given to a private developer. We found out that the developer is an influential Umno man in Negeri Sembilan and that they built the houses on top of the graves.

“The bodies are still under the Taman Zed Indah houses,” he said, adding that he is seeking for the bodies to be relocated to another cemetery in nearby Rantau.

In 2004, he applied to file a case against the developer and the state government. But in 2010 his application was rejected on the grounds that there was insufficient evidence.

Batumalai today showed FMT several photographs of the cemetery in question.

He is now seeking Najib’s intervention in the matter after failing to receive any help from Menteri Besar Mohamad Hassan and the state MIC chairman T Rajagopalu and state executive councillor VS Mohan.

“We [temple committee] have approached the state government and MIC to relocate the 40 graves but had no success.

“During the meeting with Mohamad, he was arrogant with me and said Indians are troublemakers. He refused to discuss the cemetery matter and used derogatory words against me.

“Even Rajagopalu and Mohan were afraid to take up the issue. When I met Mohan, he told me he if he took up the issue he would lose his exco seat. Rajagopalu always flip-flopped with his answers,” Batumalai said.

‘Explain Hindu burial land given to Muslims’

Hindraf questions Selangor's state government's decision to convert a 3.38 hectre plot of Hindu burial land to a Muslim cemetery.

PETALING JAYA: Hindraf wants the Selangor state government to explain its decision to convert a 3.38 hectre Hindu burial land in Teluk Piai, Kuala Selangor, to a Muslim cemetery.

“Why grab the land when Selangor is 7,955 square kilometres?” asked Hindraf’s P Uthayakumar in a letter addressed to Selangor Menteri Besar, Khalid Ibrahim.

Uthayakumar, who is also Human Rights Party’s pro-tem secretary general, was responding to a news report in Malay daily, Sinar Harian today on the matter.

In the report, Malaysian Indian Welfare and Cemetery Management Association president M Raman had asked the state government for an alternative plot of land for a Hindu cemetery.

Raman said the state exco, at a meeting in July last year, despite acknowledging that the plot of land in Teluk Piai was a Hindu cemetery decided to regazette it as a Muslim cemetary.

Raman said this was revealed in the 2010 Selangor Cemetery Inventory Report.

“Even a letter from the rural and urban planning department dated Aug 28 this year states that the land, in Lot 13, Api-Api, Kampung Teluk Piai, is a Hindu burial land,” said Raman.

Uthayakumar said: “Reconvert, re-gazette, issue permanent land titles and restore this historical Hindu cemetery in the memory of the rubber tappers who contributed extensively to Malaya’s economy.”

He also requested for a copy of the 2010 Selangor Cemetery Inventory Report under the Selangor Freedom of Information Enactment 2010 to ascertain the number of Hindu cemeteries in the state and how many of them have been gazetted.

Uthayakumar also raised concerns over the status of the Hindu cemeteries in Barisan Nasional administered states.

He gave three examples: the Bukit Jalil Hindu cemetery that was re-gazetted as Muslim burial ground, a cemetary in Kuala Sawah, Negeri Sembilan that was wiped out and a burial ground in Rantau, Seremban that was desecreated.

Maintain cemeteries, Hindraf tells Perak

Hindraf also called on the Perak government to give more land to and gazette all Hindu cemeteries and crematoriums in the state.

IPOH: Hindraf Makkal Sakti has demanded the Perak government to issue immediate directive to all local authorities to execute their statutory duty to maintain and upgrade all Hindu cemeteries and crematoriums in the state.

In a memorandum submitted to Menteri Besar Zambry Abd Kadir last week, Hindraf noted that city, municipal and rural councils were all legally required to do so under Section 94 of the Local Government 1976.

Since the local authorities come under the state government, the memorandum called on the MB office to issue the directive.

The memorandum rapped the Perak government for unlawfully passing on the legal duty of local authorities to maintain Hindu burial grounds to MIC, Hindu organisations and temples.

The memorandum slammed the local authorities for abandoning their legal duties to Hindu ratepayers over the years.

“For decades, the authorities have neglected and shirked their statutory responsibility to upkeep Hindu cemeteries and crematoriums.

“Hindus need not beg for funds every time to carry out maintenance and upgrading for their burial grounds.

“By right, the local authorities should allot the funds automatically,” blasted Hindraf in the memorandum signed by its Perak secretary J Vijayalingam.

Some 10 Hindraf activists led by the civil rights movement Perak coordinator P Ramesh submitted the memorandum at the MB’s office.

The memorandum stressed that it was time for the authorities to recommence their rightful duties to the people in line with the 1Malaysia motto of “People First, Performance Now,”

Hindraf called on the Perak government to lead the way for other states in maintaining and upgrading Hindu cemeteries and crematoriums in the country.

In the memorandum, Hindraf said Muslim cemeteries were well maintained by the state Islamic religious council via steady funds from the state government.

Comparatively, he said many Hindu cemeteries could not be well maintained, developed and beautified, at times looking like burial woods, mainly due to lack of funds.

Hindraf also called on the state government to give more land to and gazette all Hindu cemeteries and crematoriums in the state.

Modern crematoriums
The memorandum noted that under Articles 8 and 11 of the Federal Constitution, all Malaysians were equal and shall be protected before the law and granted freedom to practice their own religious beliefs.

Hindraf also wants the state government to immediately build the promised two modern crematoriums in Buntong and Taiping Hindu cemeteries.

Menteri Besar’s special advisor on Indian affairs, S Veerasingam told FMT in April that a RM1.5 million crematorium will be built in Ipoh’s largest Hindu burial ground in Buntong.

The remaining RM500,000 will be used to build the Taiping cremation structure.

He said the fund was set aside under the state Budget 2012 and last January the state executive council has approved the project to be implemented by this year.

Hindraf reminded the state government not to use the projects as baits to fish Hindu votes in the next general election.

“We want the crematoriums to be constructed before the polls to safeguard the rights, interests and benefits of Hindus in Ipoh and Taiping.

“It should not be mere empty election promise,” stressed the memorandum.

Perak to build two Hindu crematoriums

The BN-led state government has set aside RM2 million to build the two crematoriums in Buntong and Taiping.

IPOH: The lay Hindu public uproar on the Perak Barisan Nasional government to build crematoriums for the community has worked.

Two modern crematoriums are in the pipeline to be built in Buntong and Taiping Hindu cemeteries.

Menteri Besar Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir’s special advisor on Indian affairs, S Veerasingam said that the state government has set aside RM2 million to build the two crematoriums.

He said some RM1.5 million would be channelled to build a modern crematorium in Ipoh’s largest Hindu burial ground in Buntong.

The remaining RM500,000 will be used to build similar Hindu cremation structure in Taiping cemetery.

The fund has been set aside under the state Budget 2012 which was tabled and passed at the state assembly late last year.

“Early this year the state executive council has approved the project to be implemented by this year,” Veerasingam told FMT.

The Hindu Devastana Paripalana Sabha – the temple management committee of Sri Maha Mariamman Devastanam is the administrator of the 2.8ha cemetery site in Buntong, an Ipoh hamlet dominated by Tamil Hindus.

The Sabha became the caretaker of the cemetery in 1919 by virtue of a gazette issued by the then colonial government.

The graveyard caters the burial needs of some 200,000 Hindus living in the state capital.

‘Build before GE’

Previously the state government has set aside RM14.7 million to build a non-Muslim modern crematorium in Buntong graveyard, which the temple management committee initially agreed.

The state government told the temple committee then to surrender 0.2ha of the graveyard to build the crematorium.

However, due to strong objections by local Tamil community and technical discrepancies in the land title, the state government shelved the plan.

“Since the graveyard has been gazzeted as Tamil cemetery in the land title, the state government could not build a non-Muslim crematorium anyway,” explained Veerasingam.

Hindraf national secretary P Ramesh (photo) said the movement would up its pressure on Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and Zambry to ensure that the crematoriums be constructed before the next general election.

He said the state government, Ipoh City Council and Taiping Municipal Council have respective statutory duties to “preserve, maintain and develop” Hindu cemeteries under the National Land Code and Section 94 of the Local Government Act.

“The state authorities must build the modern crematoriums in Buntong and Taiping to cater Hindus burial rights and needs,” he told FMT.

Ipoh Hindus demand exclusive crematorium

A temple EGM decides to reject the state proposal for a multi-religious one in Buntong.

IPOH: The administrators of Ipoh’s largest Hindu cemetery have unanimously resolved to demand an exclusively Hindu crematorium at the site, rejecting the state’s proposal to build a multi-religious one.

They made the decision on Sunday at an extraordinary general meeting of the Hindu Devastana Paripalana Sabha, the management committee of the Sri Maha Mariamman Devastanam temple in Buntong as well as the cemetery associated with it.

The cemetery sits on a 2.8ha site at the heart of Buntong, an Ipoh hamlet dominated by Tamil Hindus. Altogether, about 200,000 Hindus live in the state capital.

In a letter dated last May 3, the Perak executive councillor in charge of non-Islamic affairs, Dr Mah Hang Soon, directed the Sabha to surrender 0.2ha of the land to the state for it to build a modern crematorium for use by all non-Muslim communities.

The plan triggered a major controversy. Hindraf Makkal Sakti, the Hindu rights group, said the proposal was unconstitutional and criminal, going against both the constitutional guarantee of religious freedom and the Penal Code’s prohibition of trespassing on burial places.

Sunday’s meeting of the Sabha considered two resolutions – one to reject the state proposal and the other to demand the Hindu crematorium. “Not a single member opposed them,” the chairman of the Sabha, M Dhamodaran, told FMT.

He said the Sabha would inform the state government of the EGM decision. “We will make concrete proposals for the construction of the Hindu crematorium.”

The Sabha became the caretaker of the cemetery in 1919 by virtue of a gazette issued by the then colonial government.

The gazette states: “In exercise of the powers vested in him by Section 9 of the Land Enactment, 1911, the Resident of Perak proclaims that parcel of land situated in Mukim Ulu Kinta, Ipoh, described in the schedule hereto, and delineated upon revenue survey plan No. 12,718, deposited in the office of the Deputy Superintendent of Revenue Surveyor, Batu Gajah, to be a reserve for the purpose of a place of interment for the dead, to wit, a burial ground for the Tamil community of Ipoh.”

Lawyer-activist P Uthayakumar, who heads the Hindraf-affiliated Human Rights Party (HRP), welcomed the EGM resolutions.

He said the state government and Ipoh City Council had the statutory duty to “preserve, maintain and develop” the Hindu cemetery under the National Land Code and Section 94 of the Local Government Act.

“The state authorities must build the modern crematorium in Buntong to cater to the needs of the city’s Hindu community,” he added.

HRP is expected to pressure Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and Perak Menteri Besar Zambry Abdul Kadir to ensure that the crematorium be constructed before the next general election.

Uthayakumar said the state should encounter no problem finding suitable idle land elsewhere in Perak for the proposed multi-religious crematorium.

Cemetery ownership issue: Reports lodged againt Rama

The DCM ll was also named in reports filed in Klang where he has been accused of allegedly threatening an MIC Youth leader.

BATU KAWAN: Two Indian community leaders here have lodged separate police reports on Saturday on two different issues against Penang Deputy Chief Minister II P Ramasamy and several other persons.

New IPF pro-tem president V Mathiyalagan, 55, and Ladang Batu Kawan Hindu temple, Sri Maha Muthu Mariamman Kovil management committee chairman A Nallakumar, 49, lodged the reports against Ramasamy and others at Batu Kawan police station, under Seberang Perai Selatan district.

In his report, Mathialagan accused Ramasamy and his alleged cronies of plotting to usurp the Batu Kawan cemetery from the ownership of the said Hindu temple and Batu Kawan residents.

He accused Ramasamy, the Batu Kawan MP, of publicly lying about the facts behind the 200-year-old cemetery by claiming that the temple had abandoned the graveyard.

He said Ramasamy, also the DAP deputy secretary-general, lied that the temple has no right over the cemetery, which houses some 1,800 Hindu burial grounds.

He said the temple committee has documented evidence to show proof on its ownership rights over the cemetery land.

Apart from Ramasamy, Mathiyalagan also named the DCM 11′s close aide and Seberang Perai municipal (MPSP) councillor M Ramachandran, Batu Kawan village safety and development committee chairman G Dumani and a local PKR member named as just Ravi as part of the plot.

Ramasamy recently announced that the Penang Hindu Endowments Board (HEB), which he heads, planned to take over the management of the cemetery.

The six-acre cemetery had existed since 1817 under the Gangai Malai estate established during the British rule. Gangai Malai estate was later renamed Ladang Batu Kawan.

Ramasamy claimed that the cemetery was abandoned by the temple management since the Penang Development Corporation (PDC) acquired the area to build a new township during the previous Barisan Nasional (BN) administration.

However, Mathiayalagan, a local resident, dismissed Ramasamy’s claim, saying that the temple committee had been managing the graveyard until now.

‘All lies’

Last week Nallakumar told FMT that the temple committee planned to file a suit against HEB and Ramasamy, and probably the state government, if “anyone tried to steal our cemetery.”

In his police report, Nallakumar alleged that Ramasamy and his political aide M Sateesh had tarnished his reputation by claiming that he had misused a 174-acre agricultural land secured under lease for personal business in a PDC open tender, for personal gains.

Nallakumar said Ramasamy and Sateesh had wrongly accused him of failing to fulfill his promises to contribute part of his income from the agricultural activities to the temple.

“I have never promised anything. Neither was there any clause stating that I must contribute to the temple. It’s my personal business.

“They are spreading lies about it merely because of the cemetery issue,” claimed Nallakumar.

MIC Youth leader files death threat reports

In an unrelated development, an MIC Youth leader has also lodged several police reports against Ramasamy and Sateesh over death threats received via SMS and phone calls.

“I have hard evidence that shows M Sateesh and P Ramasamy are behind these threats,” said Kampung Meru MIC Youth chief G Kalaicelvan (pix) today. He is a popular host of a local debate show on Astro called Alaaram.

Kalaicelvan said he started receiving the threats after posing questions on micro-blogging site, Twitter, about DAP’s administration in Penang.

The first SMS threat was received on May 12 May, followed by another one two days later. The most recent threat was received at 1.18 am today.

The threats, in Tamil, were directed at Kalaichelvan, his wife and daughter.

Kalaichelvan has so far lodged three police reports on the threats.

“They (Ramasamy and Sateesh) have resorted to thug mentality,” he said during a press conference at MIC headquarters in Kuala Lumpur today.

“They could have just responded to my tweet queries,” he added.

When contacted, both Ramasamy and Sateesh denied making the death threats and urged Kalaicelvan to lodge a police report.

“I don’t even know who he is,” a surprised Ramasamy said.

Sateesh meanwhile said he would sue Kalaichelvan for defaming him. “I got nothing to do with this. What he is talking about is nonsense. I will take legal action if he implicates me,” he said.

Temple mulls suit against HEB over Batu Kawan cemetery

The tussle over a cemetery in Penang is expected to take a legal twist, with the temple committee thinking about filing a suit.

BATU KAWAN: A local Hindu temple management committee plans to take legal action against the Penang Hindu Endowments Board (HEB) for attempting to take over a cemetery near the state stadium here.

Chairman of the Ladang Batu Kawan Hindu temple, A Nallakumar, claimed that HEB had no right to claim the temple-owned cemetery land.

He said the management committee was now discussing the matter with its lawyer to file a suit soon with the High Court.

Besides HEB, the Pakatan Rakyat state government and Deputy Chief Minister II P Ramasamy, who is also Batu Kawan MP and Prai assemblyman, were expected to be named as defendants in the suit.

“We will not compromise with anyone on this issue. The land is ours and we will resist till the end against any attempts by anyone to steal it,” vowed Nallakumar.

Last week, Ramasamy announced that HEB, which he heads, had planned to take over the cemetery.

The nearly 200-year-old Hindu cemetery had some 1,800 burial grounds.

The six-acre cemetery had existed since 1817 under the Gangai Malai estate established by the British colonial masters. Gangai Malai estate was later renamed Ladang Batu Kawan.

Ramasamy claimed that the cemetery was abandoned by the temple management since the Penang Development Corporation (PDC) acquired the area to build a new township during the previous Barisan Nasional (BN) administration.

New graveyard

However, Nallakumar dismissed Ramasamy’s claim as “lies”.

“We were using the cemetery until 2006 when the authorities stopped us. We were then told to use the new graveyard land given to us,” he told FMT.

During BN’s rule, he recalled that PDC had taken over half of the cemetery land without any consent from the temple committee during the construction of the stadium.

However, he said strong resistance from local residents stalled PCD’s attempt to take over the remaining cemetery land.

PDC, he said, later compensated the temple with a new four-acre graveyard land, some two kilometres away, for the old cemetery land, part of which now lies beneath the stadium complex.

Nallakumar produced documented evidence to show that the BN state government then had promised that it would not touch the remaining cemetery land.

He said the BN government was having negotiations with the local residents to officially retain the remaining land under the temple ownership when a change of government took place in the 2008 general election.

Plan hijacked

He said the temple committee then explained and sought Ramasamy’s help to expedite the handing over.

He said the temple committee also sought state funds from Ramasamy to carry out a beautification and landscaping project in the cemetery.

“However, instead of handing over the land and giving us funds, Ramasamy suddenly plans to take over it. We will never allow this.

“The cemetery does not only belong to the temple and local residents, but to all Penang Hindus. HEB has no right over our land,” said Nallakumar.

Demonstrations by the residents and a rival pro-Ramasamy group had taken place this month over the cemetery ownership dispute.

On Sunday, things nearly turned into a free-for-all when rival groups began a shouting match against each other during a pro-Ramasamy group’s demonstration near the cemetery.

Ramasamy’s cemetery plan was also criticised by the Human Rights Party (HRP).

Citing Section 94 of the Local Government Act 1976, HRP pointed out that it was incumbent on the Seberang Perai Municipal Council (MPSP), and not the HEB, to gazette, manage and maintain the burial ground.

Cemetery protest nearly turned unruly

A group in support of the HEB takeover of the old Batu Kawan cemetery was met with resistance from another set of people supporting a Hindu temple's ownership of the cemetery.

Supporters of Penang Hindu Endowment Board

BATU KAWAN: A peaceful demonstration this morning in show of support for the Penang Hindu Endowments Board (HEB) takeover of a Hindu cemetery near Batu Kawan stadium nearly turned ugly when rival groups began a shouting match against each other.

Things nearly turned out of control when a local temple group arrived at the scene to stop the pro-HEB group demonstration, which began at 10am.

Only swift intervention by police personnel from the Seberang Perai Selatan district managed to thwart any untoward incident between the two groups.

The irony was the rival groups involved two brothers, elder A Nallakumar and younger A Kumaravel, at the helm of opposing sides.

The almost one hour commotion was then peacefully dispersed by the police.

In support of DCM ll P Ramasamy

It all started when a pro-HEB group of some 100 people, who also supporters of Deputy Chief Minister II P Ramasamy, erected a canopy, demonstrated and displayed banners near the cemetery to show support to the HEB take over.

Ramasamy had revealed last Tuesday that the HEB, which he chairs, plans to take over ownership and management of the cemetery.

The Prai assemblyman and Batu Kawan MP claimed that the cemetery was abandoned and left to rot by its previous owner, a Hindu temple in Ladang Batu Kawan, Sri Maha Muthu Mariamman Kovil management committee.

The pro-Ramasamy group was led by Batu Kawan village safety and development committee chairman G Dumani and Kumaravel, a local resident.

Also in the group were DAP councillor in the mainland municipality (MPSP) Teoh Seang Hooi and Ramasamy’s political aide Sateesh Muniandy.

War of words

The other group

While some of the demonstrators took turns to speak on a loud hailer, the rival group led by the temple chairman Nallakumar and local IPF leader MV Mathialagan arrived at the scene at 10.30am with their own 100 supporters.

They instantly demanded the pro-Ramasamy group to dismantle their canopy and ‘disappear’ from the place.

This sparked a war of words and there were some pushing and shoving among rival supporters before police managed to split and disperse both groups.

Nallakumar later lodged a police report at the Batu Kawan police station at 5pm. When contacted Sateesh said the pro-Ramasamy group did not lodge any report.

Ramasamy has previously claimed that the temple had abandoned the cemetery after receiving a new two-acre burial land, some two kilometers away, as compensation from the Penang Development Corporation (PDC) to facilitate the stadium development years back.

He also said the HEB would only need to fork RM1 to acquire the land, unlike the temple committee which would need millions of ringgit to do so.

Nallakumar however, dismissed Ramasamy’s claims, insisting that the cemetery was always under the temple ownership and it was never abandoned.

He claimed that PDC had given back the cemetery to the temple after originally acquiring it following mass protest by the local residents.

“This happened during the previous Barisan Nasional administration in 1990s.

“We have been using the cemetery until before the last election when we began to use the newly allotted cemetery land,” he said.

Following Pakatan Rakyat takeover of the state government, he said the temple committee requested a RM300,000-state fund from Ramasamy to reconstruct the landscape and beautify the cemetery.

However, he said Ramasamy until today had not responded to it.

Documentary proof of ownership



'Cemetery belongs to the temple'

He said the temple committee was infuriated by Ramasamy’s autocratic style of trying to bulldoze his way to take over the cemetery without any discussions with the temple committee.

“Suddenly he wants to take over the cemetery when he could have provided us the fund to upgrade the cemetery,” said Nallakumar.

Last Sunday, Nallakumar and Mathialagan led some 100 people to protest against the HEB’s proposed takeover.

Nallakumar said the Ladang Batu Kawan cemetery started during the British colonial days in 1817 and contained some 1,800 deceased burial grounds.

‘We have all the documented proofs to show the temple committee is the owner of the cemetery.

“HEB has no rights over our land,” insisted Nallakumar.

Ramasamy’s cemetery plan was also criticised by the Human Rights Party (HRP) on Friday.

Citing Section 94 of the Local Government Act 1976, HRP pointed out that it was incumbent on the local council MPSP, and not the HEB, to gazette, manage and maintain the burial grounds

Municipal councils have no say in running cemeteries

Endowment bodies look after burial sites because they last longer than governments

PETALING JAYA: Municipal coiuncils are not in the business of managing or maintaining cemeteries. That task has alway been done by religious bodies.

Penang Deputy Chief Minister II, P Ramasamy’s aide M Satees said: “In Penang, Muslim cemeteries are maintained by Majlis Agama Islam Pulau Pinang (MAIPP) and Jabatan Agama Islam Pulau Pinang (JAIPP) whereas Christian cemeteries by the church and Hindu burial grounds by temple committee.”

Satees was responding to Human Rights Party (HRP) executive committee member M Karunai Nithi’s criticism against Penang Hindu Endowment Board’s (PHEB) attempt to take over the Batu Kawan Hindu burial ground.

Karunai Nithi said the Seberang Perai Municipal Council (MPSP) should manage and maintain the burial ground.

Satees said the idea behind the Batu Kawan Hindu burial sites’s take over by PHEB was because endowment boards last longer than governments in safeguarding community interests.

“PHEB has been in existence for over 100 years compared to the government,” said Satees.

He added that the problem with the Batu Kawan cemetery arose because it was not gazetted as a Hindu burial ground.

Satees said that a Hindu endowment board would be formed in all states once Pakatan Rakyat forms the federal government.

“It has been agreed in principle by all Pakatan component parties,” said Satees.

DCM II Ramasamy announced that PHEB would take over the management of the five acre burial ground in Batu Kawan as it was abandoned by the previous Sri Maha Mariamman temple committee.

HRP blasts Hindu board for cemetery take over

Ramasamy, as DCM II, should have instead issued directives to local authority to take charge and maintain the cemetery, says HRP.

GEORGE TOWN: The Human Rights Party today blasted the Hindu Endowment Board (HEB) Penang for attempting to take over an abandoned Hindu cemetery near Batu Kawan Stadium.

HRP executive committee member M Karunai Nithi said it was incumbent upon the Seberang Perai Municipality (MPSB), and not the HEB, to gazette, manage and maintain the burial ground.

He said Section 94 of the Local Government Act 1976 specifies this.

“The Chinese community may want to manage and maintain on their own their cemeteries because they have the financial capacity to do so.

“However, the local authorities owed a public responsibility to gazette, operate and maintain burial grounds for Hindus. It’s a
statutory obligation,” he told FMT here today.

He pointed out that local authorities have been operating, maintaining and fully funding Muslim cemeteries in the country either directly or indirectly via Muslim groups.

Therefore, he said local authorities shall do same for other communities.

“Why can’t MPSP do the same for the Batu Kawan Hindu cemetery? Have racist policies been expanded even to the dead?” asked Karunai Nithi.

On Tuesday, Penang Deputy Chief Minister II P Ramasamy revealed that the HEB, which he chairs, plans to take over ownership and management of the abandoned Hindu cemetery.

The five-acre cemetery, containing over 1,000 deceased burial grounds, had been abandoned by its previous owner, the Sri Maha Mariamman temple management committee.

The temple management abandoned the cemetery in exchange for a two-acre burial ground during a land acquisition by the Penang Development Corporation to facilitate the construction of Stadium Batu Kawan.

Typical mandore attitude

Karunai Nithi rebuked Ramasamy’s overtures for a HEB takeover saying that it was yet another blatant act of “mandorism ala Pakatan Rakyat.”

He said Ramasamy, as DCM II, should have instead issued directives to MPSP, vis-a-vis the state executive council to take over, operate and maintain the cemetery, or indirectly fund HEB to do it on its behalf.

“Instead, Ramasamy in a typical mandore fashion comes in to take over the cemetery and let MPSP go scot free from fulfilling its statutory duty,” said Karunai Nithi.

Ramasamy has said that HEB could buy the cemetery for RM1 premium. HEB is a statutory body set up by the British colonial rulers in 1900s as public trust to manage properties belonging to Hindus in Penang.

Ramasamy also said that, as a HEB head and Batu Kawan MP, he has a social responsibility to safeguard the political, social and cultural interests of Penang Indians.

“I will not sit ideal and be a witness the gradual loss of Indian cultural and social spaces in the state,” said the former academician.

Karunai Nithi said Ramasamy should prove this by using HEB to purchase, gazette and maintain the now extinct 2.5ha Kampung Buah Pala as a permanent Indian settlement.

The village, once commonly known as Tamil High Chaparral, was flattened in 2009 to pave away for a posh condominium project called the Oasis.

“Why did Ramasamy not do it then and why does wants HEB to take over a cemetery when it was a statutory public duty of the local authorities?

“Why didn’t he use his DCM II powers then when it counted most? Isn’t this a typical zero mandore politics?” asked Karunai Nithi.

HEB to take over burial ground

The Hindu cemetery in Batu Kawan has been left to rot for 18 years by the previous owner, says Deputy Chief Minister II P Ramasamy.

GEORGE TOWN: The Hindu Endowment Board (HEB) Penang is set to take over the ownership and management of an abandoned Hindu cemetery in Batu Kawan, Deputy Chief Minister II P Ramasamy said here today.

He told a press conference that the five-acre cemetery, containing over 1,000 deceased burial grounds, had been abandoned by its previous owner, a local temple management committee.

Batu Kawan’s Sri Maha Mariamman Kovil management abandoned the cemetery in exchange for a new two-acre burial ground during a land acquisition by the Penang Development Corporation (PDC) to facilitate the construction of Stadium Batu Kawan.

The new burial ground is two kilometres away from the old cemetery, which is near the stadium.

It’s learnt that a portion of the old cemetery lies beneath the mammoth stadium ground.

Ramasamy said that state secretary Farizan Darus has asked him a month ago on whether the remains in the old cemetery can be exhumed to allow the remaining land to be gazetted for the stadium.

“However, I objected to it and insisted that it was only appropriate for the land to be reinstated as a Hindu burial ground,” said the Batu Kawan MP and Prai assemblyman.

Acting on Ramasamy’s suggestion, the Seberang Perai Selatan district land office is now conducting a land survey to prepare a paper that would be tabled at the State Land Committee to gazette the land under the safekeeping and administration of HEB.

HEB is a statutory body set up by the British colonial rulers in 1900s as a public trust to manage properties belonging to Hindus in Penang.

On Sunday, a few local residents accompanied MIC, Indian Progressive Front and Gerakan members to stage a protest in Batu Kawan, calling on the state government to hand over the old cemetery ground back to the temple management.

New land as compensation

However, Ramasamy, the HEB chairman, said it was unfair and unjust for the temple management to reclaim the land given that it had already accepted a new land as compensation.

Secondly, he said the temple management had abandoned the old ground to rot for 18 years ago.

“The temple management lacked professionalism to operate the burial ground.

“It has no legitimacy or moral authority to talk about managing burial matters,” said Ramasamy.

Moreover, it will cost the temple management millions to acquire the land while it will only cost HEB RM1 land premium to do so.

He said if HEB were to take over the cemetery, the state government would ensure full benefits accrue to the Indians in Batu Kawan constituency.

He said its operation and maintenance would be given to committed, dedicated and sincere constituents.

“As a HEB head and Batu Kawan MP, I have a social responsibility to safeguard the political, social and cultural interests of Penang Indians.

“I will not sit to witness the gradual loss of Indian cultural and social spaces in the state,” said the former academician.