By Neville Spykerman - The Malaysian Insider
There's no room for Pakatan Rakyat at this year's Thaipusam celebrations in Batu Caves. — Bernama pic
SELAYANG, Jan 28 — Police have ordered the Pakatan Rakyat state government to remove a stage set up at Batu Caves for celebrations on the eve of Thaipusam tomorrow despite prior approval from the authorities.
Selangor executive councillor Dr Xavier Jayakumar told The Malaysian Insider he had been informed that this was because Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak was scheduled to visit Batu Caves at 9pm tomorrow.
“This is totally unfair, I had met the Gombak Police chief earlier this week at the Selayang Municipal Council and there was no problem.”
Xavier said tomorrow’s celebrations, which starts at 10.30pm, is part of the Selangor Tourism programme which is being hosted by the state government and sponsored by Digi.
“Nobody told us Najib was coming tomorrow and he was only initially supposed to visit on Saturday afternoon.”
The Malaysian Insider is still attempting to contact the Selangor police chief Datuk Khalid Abu Bakar for an official comment.
However when contacted Selangor Police Chief Datuk Khalid Abu Bakar told The Malaysian Insider that they had never agreed for a stage to be set up near a viaduct in front of the temple for the purpose of a concert.
Khalid said the area is not conducive because of the huge crowd, and previously the location was used by police to position their vehicles in order to maintain security.
“This has nothing to do with the prime minister’s visit tomorrow.”
He added that he had conveyed this to Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim.
“I’ve spoken to the Selangor Mentri Besar and he agreed the stage should not be set up at that location.”
He added police had no objections if the state government wanted to set up a stage at a different location.
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