|  • Selangor govt suspends Hamid
• Kapar MP to quit PKR if no action is taken
• MIC protests against demolition
©New Straits Times
by V. Shankar Ganesh
SHAH ALAM: State executive councillor Dr Xavier Jayakumar came under fire from the MIC for describing the temple demolition in Ampang as a small issue and that the municipal council was right in demolishing it. MIC Youth chief T. Mohan lambasted him, saying he should address the issue at hand and not trivialise it as it touched the sensitivities of Indians.
"He should investigate who ordered the demolition as the state did not issue any such order. However, the responsibility still lies in the hands of the state as the municipal council reports to the state."
He said Jayakumar's comments were an insult to the Indian community, in also referring to the the place of worship as being only a shrine.
"Even if it is a shrine, is it all right to demolish it? All this talk goes against what was said before the general election when they promised not to demolish any place of worship." The Sri Mahakaliamman temple was demolished by officers from the Ampang Jaya Municipal Council on Sept 9.
Mohan lead a protest by about 100 people outside the state secretariat building here yesterday.
He said the state government should answer the questions being raised.
Under the watchful eyes of a handful of policemen, the protesters carried banners and posters criticising the Pakatan Rakyat government and demanding that Jayakumar quit.
Mohan handed over a memorandum addressed to Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim, which was received by Khalid's political secretary, Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad.
Mohan asked why MPAJ did not inform the state government of the demolition. He also wanted to know what the state was doing to settle this problem and also whether the state could give its assurance that no more temples would be demolished.
Mohan said the only solution now was for the state government to allow the temple to be rebuilt and the land it was on given for this purpose.
Earlier, Jayakumar had questioned why the MIC was protesting against the temple demolition only now, when the previous Barisan Nasional government had demolished it three times, only to have it rebuilt each time.
"They did not protest then. Why now?" he asked.
To this, Mohan replied that the MIC had always been against any temple demolition in the country and had always engaged the government in talks to resolve the problem.
(However, despite such talks, a temple in Padang Jawa here was demolished last November, just days before Deepavali, causing a huge uproar in the Indian community eventually leading to the erosion of Indian support for the BN.)
Asked whether any of the Ampang temple committee members were present at the protest, Mohan said no one was there as the temple management were Pakatan Rakyat supporters.
Asked why, then, was the MIC making a ruckus about the issue, he said a temple was a public place of worship for all Hindus and they had the right to protect it.
Federal Territory People's Progressive Party chief A. Chandrakumanan said Jayakumar was practising a double-standard in handling this matter.
"This is especially so as he has the cheek to say it's a small matter. Today, when he is part of the government, he is trying to protect and justify their mistake by saying that it was only a shrine built on forest reserve land." |
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