PM furious, vows prompt action - Malaysiakini

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 1Malaysia 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.

Malaysian Indian United Party president S Nallakaruppan also similarly condemned the act.

"I fear that this kind of intolerance and act of stupidity will only cause more rift among the Malaysians. This is a bad move by the villagers," he said.

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.