Ibrahim Haji Sabri,deputy chairman of the Sec 23 resident's commitee speaking at the protest today. - Picture by Choo Choy May
The outraged prime minister gave instructions to Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan after Selangor police stood by in the after Friday prayers protest.
Umno Youth leader Khairy Jamaluddin condemned the protest, calling it insensitive and disrespectful to another religion.
“This kind of emotional and insulting action can wreck the country’s peace,” the Rembau MP said in a statement.
“It saddens me that this protest was in the name of Malay NGOs after Friday prayers during Ramadan. I believe this is not an action acceptable to Islam which prizes moderation and respect for other people’s faiths,” he added.
Khairy said the action will anger the Hindus, adding those who organised the protest should consider their actions if others protested the building of mosques in non-Malay areas by burning and stepping on the Quran.
“Won’t the Malays be enraged. If yes, isn’t the cow head protest equally insulting?” he asked, adding he would equally defend Islam against its detractors and other religions too.
National Unity and Performance Management Minister Tan Sri Koh Tsu Koon also called for calm and asked the state government resolve the issue.
“This matter must be resolved through negotiation in the spirit of Rukunegara and 1 Malaysia and an amicable solution must be found,” Koh said in a statement, adding he supported Najib's directive for quick police action. Indian leaders from both sides of the political divide condemned the protest, saying it will incite racial tensions in the country's most developed state.MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu called the group extremist but asked Indians in the state to be calm.
"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.
"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, saying the protesters must be punished for endangering racial harmony.
The action drew the ire of other Indian leaders including Penang Deputy Chief Minister II P. Ramasamy who called the protest a "disgraceful" act" while Human Rights Party leader P Uthayakumar was disappointed that the police did not arrest those involved in the protest.
The Pakatan Rakyat government said it will lodge a police report, regretting the inaction by the police.
The group of Malay-Muslim protesters claiming to be residents of Section 23 had dumped the severed cow's head outside the Selangor state secretariat and threatened bloodshed unless the state government stopped the construction of a Hindu Temple.
The "residents" said that the construction of a Hindu temple in a 90 per cent Malay- Muslim neighbourhood was insensitive because activities there would disrupt their lives.
“I challenge YB Khalid, YB Rodziah and Xavier Jeyakumar to go on with the temple construction. I guarantee bloodshed and racial tension will happen if this goes on, and the state will be held responsible,” shouted Ibrahim Haji Sabri amid strong chants of “Allahu Akbar!” as he referred to Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim and his state administration.
Ibrahim identified himself as the deputy chairman of the Resident’s Committee against the building of the temple in S23 here, which is perceived by some as being a Muslim majority area.
He told the press that the state should move the temple to Section 22 as ‘originally planned’, and also labelled Khalid a “traitor to the Malay race and Islam”.It is understood that the protest is an immediate reaction towards the Selangor MB’s visit to the Hindu temple site yesterday, an act seen by the "residents" as disrespectful to the Muslims of the community.
When asked whether members of the protest were affiliated with any organisations or movements, Ibrahim claimed that the people present today were members of PAS, PKR as well as Umno who are “united in the name of Islam and the Malay spirit.”
The issue first cropped up when the Selangor government proposed that the Sri Mariamman temple be relocated from Section 19 to Section 23.
In a statement, 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.
He said religious issues were best resolved around the negotiation table where mutual respect can be shown to all.
“No further demonstration by any side should be contemplated or allowed. Peace and order should be maintained for the sake of all residents,” Philips added.
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