Holy cow! Man shouldn't have lost his head!

By Jeff Ooi,

Is this One Malaysia? We are but 3 days away from the 52nd anniversary of Merdeka!

Source: Malaysiakini TV on YouTube

In a statement picked up by Malaysian Insider, the Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism & Taoism (MCCBCHST) called for calm to enable the authorities find a “peaceable agreement and understanding”.

“Nothing can be gained by provocative action on the part of any side. MCCBCHST regrets that a severed cow’s head was brought along in the demonstration,” said president Reverend Dr Thomas Philips, noting the cow is sacred to the Hindu religion.

Didn't Najib Razak say "nip it in the bud"?

This is, after all, the holy month where all fires are doused, emotions moderated and controlled.

From Malaysiakini...

Temple demo: Residents march with cow's head Andrew Ong Aug 28, 09 3:52pm

Some 50 residents enraged with the proposed relocation of a Hindu temple to their area staged a noisy protest with a severed cow's head this afternoon.

The residents - from Section 23 in Shah Alam - who gathered after the Friday prayers, placed the head outside the gates of the state secretariat building for a short period before removing it.

"Where is Xavier? This head is for him," shouted one of the protesters in reference to Selangor executive councillor Dr Xavier Jeyakumar.

Jeyakumar is one of those in charge of non-Muslim affairs in the state.

Earlier, the protesters had marched some 300m from the state mosque to the state secretariat building.

The protesters also condemned Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim, exco member Rodziah Ismail (as the area falls under her state constituency) and Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad.

Before dispersing, several protesters spat and stomped on the cow's head. The cow is considered sacred among Hindus.

Addressing the crowd, Section 23 action committee deputy chair Ibrahim Sabri said: "If there is blood, you (the state government) will be responsible if you are adamant about building the temple."

"This is a warning. Relocate the temple to Section 22. This cow is a present to the state government. This is a gift from us," he added.

The protesters also carried several banners which among others read 'Take Beer' (mocking PAS' rallying cry of 'Takbir') and 'Illegal temples are very small, but once relocated, they are as big as Putrajaya'.

The crowd gathered for about 15 minutes at the main entrance of the state secretariat building under the watch of more than a dozen police personnel.

'We'll not budge an inch'

Speaking to reporters later, Action Committee chair Mahyuddin Manaf warned that the state government must give in or the residents would retaliate.

"We will not budge one inch, even if lives are lost or blood is made to flow. We will still defend Section 23 from having a temple built there," he said.

He added that a protest memorandum was forwarded to the state government two months ago but there has been no response.

On Aug 11, the state government announced that the relocation of the temple from Section 19 to Section 23 was final and will be situated 200m from the nearest house and 400m from a surau.

The temple will face an industrial lot and will be separated from the houses by a playground and a multi-purpose hall.

However, some residents felt that it was not appropriate to build a temple in a Muslim-majority area.

The Pakatan Rakyat state government accused rivals Umno of instigating the crowd to protest the relocation.

Jeyakumar to lodge police report

In an immediate reaction, a furious Jeyakumar described the protest as "unwarranted, unacceptable and without sensitivity towards other religions."

He also said that he will lodge a police report on the matter soon.

"These people should have ethics. They are inciting racial and religious hatred. I am going to lodge a police report against these people," he told Malaysiakini.

He also expressed disappointment towards the police personnel at the scene for not taking any action against the protesters.

"The police didn't stop anybody. The police should have arrested them and charged them for inciting hatred," he said, adding that he could tolerate with "ethical" demonstrations.

PM furious, vows prompt action
Aug 28, 09 7:03pm

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak is outraged over this afternoon's 'cow head' protest in Shah Alam, said Human Resources Minister Dr S Subramaniam.

The MIC secretary-general told Malaysiakini that Najib had conveyed his disappointment when he telephoned him regarding the incident.

"The prime minister was very upset. He promised to look into the problem and nip it in the bud," he said.

"Some 15 minutes later, the prime minister called back and said that he had spoken to Inspector-General of Police (Musa Hassan) and instructed him to take immediate action," he added.

In a statement earlier, Subramaniam said incidents such as these hinder the 1 Malaysia concept being promoted by the premier and serve to only 'turn back the clock'.

After performing their Friday prayers, some 50 angry residents from Section 23 in Shah Alam marched with the cow's head to protest against the relocation of a Hindu temple to their area.

The protesters had marched from the state mosque to the state secretariat building.

"The group took their protest to the extreme by bringing a severed cow's head which clearly is a sign of disrespect to the Hindu community," Subramaniam said.

"It has emotionally angered the Hindus and if it is not controlled from the beginning, it may create unnecessary racial tension," he warned.

Samy Vellu: This is intolerable

Meanwhile, Penang Deputy Chief Minister II P Ramasamy called the protest a "disgraceful" act.

"It was very uncivilised and brutish...and the group had just come after attending their (Friday) prayers," the DAP leader said.

Also seeing red over the incident was MIC president S Samy Vellu, who called it an "intolerable" act carried out by an "extremist group."

"The cow is a sacred animal of the Hindus, and for this group to resort to such action, is intolerable and tantamount to challenging the freedom of religion as enshrined in the Malaysian Constitution.

"It is the right of Malaysians of any faith, including Hindus to build temples and other places of worships. I am very sad that this group had paraded the cow's head on their way to the state secretariat building," he said in a statement.

"We must not allow anyone to challenge or ridicule any religion in this country. I am worried that this action may lead to retaliation from the Hindu community. However, I wish to urge the Hindus especially to be calm and let the authorities deal with it," he added.

Samy Vellu called on the government and the police to take action against the organisers of this protest.

They must be punished according to the law for endangering racial harmony in this country, he added.

'Charge them in court'

MIC Youth was also appalled and expressed shock over the protest.

"It is a very shameful and disgraceful act and they do not seem to have any feelings for the sentiments of the Hindu community," said the wing's chief T Mohan.

"We strongly condemn their actions and call on the authorities to take immediate action. There are proper channels to express one's views but ridiculing the Hindu religion reflects the shallow minds of the protesters," he added.

Human Rights Party leader P Uthayakumar was disappointed that the police did not arrest those involved in the protest.

He said the Attorney-General's Chambers should initiate criminal proceedings and charge them under Sections 298 and 298 (A) of the Penal Code read together with Article 11 of the Federal Constitution.

Section 298 concerns the offence of uttering words etc with the deliberate intent to wound religious feelings while Section 298 (A) is related to the offence of causing disharmony.

Makkal Sakthi Party president S Thanendran also condemned the protest as a "barbaric" act.

He urged the Selangor government as well as the police not to tolerate this sort of behaviour and to take stern action against the protesters.

"How can a temple disturb the peace of these people?

"Things can become really ugly if we start raising other questions," he said.