Both the Hindraf chief and the DAP sec-gen tick off the Federal Territories Minister for being insensitive to the Hindus with his comments on the Sri Muneswarar Kaliyaman Alayam demolition.
UPDATED
GEORGE TOWN: Civil rights movement Hindraf ticked off Federal Territories Minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor for allegedly insulting Hinduism and Hindus by interpreting on what constituted a Hindu shrine or temple.
The movement’s chairman and Deputy Minister in the PM’s Department P Waythamoorthy said Tengku Mansor should stay away from Hindu religious matters since the minister had no knowledge on practices and beliefs of Hindus.
He called Tengku Adnan to immediately apologise to the Hindu community for the demolition of the 101-year-old Hindu temple, Sri Muneswarar Kaliyaman Alayam, at Jalan P.Ramlee in Kuala Lumpur, merely a week after the Deepavali festival, and also for his unwarranted interference with Hindu religious affairs.
Waythamoorthy said Tengku Adnan should respect Hindu feelings and sensitivities of Hindus instead of justifying an unconscionable act by the Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur (DBKL) to demolish a century-old Hindu temple.
He reminded Tengku Adnan that temple demolition and later insulting Hindus in the name of “forced beautification of temples” was blatant violation of fundamental human rights.
“Having demolished the temple, it is a double insult to say it was demolished to beautify and make it a tourist attraction.
“Hindraf is appalled with Tengku Adnan’s interference in the affairs of Hindu religion.
“He has no business in interpreting what amounts to a shrine or temple.
“We find his explanation of what amounts to a temple, that it has to have water, dome and facing, east, etc is an insult to the Hindu religion.
“Hence, he has no business to issue public statement on matters pertaining to the Hindu religion.
“He should immediately apologise,” said Waythamoorthy whose outburst against a cabinet member is set to invite criticism from Umno leaders.
Waythamoorthy, who was included in the BN government after the May GE following a historic MOU between Hindraf and BN, had in recent months been told to toe the line and not to criticise minister and government policies..
More demolition notices
Waythamoorthy said he had received numerous phone calls from devotees across the country expressing their anger and frustration against yet another unconscionable act of temple demolition.
“They are sick with the attitude of politicians justifying such acts,” said the Hindraf chief in a statement today.
Waythamoorthy said he learnt that the DBKL, which comes under the purview of Tengku Adnan’s ministerial, had issued more than 20 other temple demolition orders.
He said the Indian community wanted to know whether Tengku Adnan, who signed on the behalf of BN the memorandum of understanding with Hindraf to implement the five-year Indian Blueprint, was committed to honouring the agreement.
He said Indian community was curious to know on whether Tengku Adnan was committed to find permanent and comprehensive solutions to various issues including Hindu temples, or he would continue to ignore the MoU and carry on demolishing the Hindu temples in Kuala Lumpur.
He said Hindraf signed the MoU with the BN upon the ruling coalition’s commitment to correct historical wrongs committed against the Indian and Hindu community for centuries.
By right, he said these temples should have been given land titles during the colonial period or they should have been gazetted as Hindu temple sites by the post-independence government.
“Both were not done hence, the problems faced today,” Waythamoorthy said.
He insisted that Hindraf forged a win-win alliance with BN hoping that the federal government would make good its promises to the Indians.
During the MoU signing, he said Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak publicly apologised to Indian Malaysians for BN government past lapses, and promised to work closely with Hindraf to find a permanent and comprehensive solution to the long standing problems faced by the community.
The issues included the 800,000 displaced estate workers, the admission of Indians to public educational institutions, upgrading the dilapidated and ill-equipped Tamil schools, better business and job opportunities as well as resolving the estimated 300,000 stateless Indian issue.
“The agreement must be honoured,” Waythamoorthy stressed.
DAP slams temple demolition
In another development, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng slammed the federal government for demolishing parts of the 101-year-old temple, saying that the “beautification” reason given was unacceptable.
“The DAP feels that there should have been negotiations before the temple was demolished…we don’t understand how they can use the excuse that they are beautifying the temple when it is obviously a demolition,” Lim said.
Speaking at a press conference at the Parliament lobby, the Penang Chief Minister and Bagan MP said the excuse was “suspicious” as it had been used by the federal government before in Penang.
He claimed that the government had demolished a port in Penang for “beautification” purposes, but years later, it had yet to rebuild the port.
“The deputy health minister himself made the guarantee that it was to be reconstructed, yet even until today, there has been no work done,” said Lim.
“So we saw this happen in Penang already, and now it’s happening again,” he noted.
Lim was responding to Tengku Adnan’s remarks yesterday that the DBKL will renovate and beautify the temple to highlight its century-old heritage.
“We plan to make the shrine like the famous Buddha statue in Hong Kong. It will become a tourist attraction,” he was quoted as saying at a press conference yesterday.
UPDATED
GEORGE TOWN: Civil rights movement Hindraf ticked off Federal Territories Minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor for allegedly insulting Hinduism and Hindus by interpreting on what constituted a Hindu shrine or temple.The movement’s chairman and Deputy Minister in the PM’s Department P Waythamoorthy said Tengku Mansor should stay away from Hindu religious matters since the minister had no knowledge on practices and beliefs of Hindus.
He called Tengku Adnan to immediately apologise to the Hindu community for the demolition of the 101-year-old Hindu temple, Sri Muneswarar Kaliyaman Alayam, at Jalan P.Ramlee in Kuala Lumpur, merely a week after the Deepavali festival, and also for his unwarranted interference with Hindu religious affairs.
Waythamoorthy said Tengku Adnan should respect Hindu feelings and sensitivities of Hindus instead of justifying an unconscionable act by the Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur (DBKL) to demolish a century-old Hindu temple.
He reminded Tengku Adnan that temple demolition and later insulting Hindus in the name of “forced beautification of temples” was blatant violation of fundamental human rights.
“Having demolished the temple, it is a double insult to say it was demolished to beautify and make it a tourist attraction.
“Hindraf is appalled with Tengku Adnan’s interference in the affairs of Hindu religion.
“He has no business in interpreting what amounts to a shrine or temple.
“We find his explanation of what amounts to a temple, that it has to have water, dome and facing, east, etc is an insult to the Hindu religion.
“Hence, he has no business to issue public statement on matters pertaining to the Hindu religion.
“He should immediately apologise,” said Waythamoorthy whose outburst against a cabinet member is set to invite criticism from Umno leaders.
Waythamoorthy, who was included in the BN government after the May GE following a historic MOU between Hindraf and BN, had in recent months been told to toe the line and not to criticise minister and government policies..
More demolition notices
Waythamoorthy said he had received numerous phone calls from devotees across the country expressing their anger and frustration against yet another unconscionable act of temple demolition.
“They are sick with the attitude of politicians justifying such acts,” said the Hindraf chief in a statement today.
Waythamoorthy said he learnt that the DBKL, which comes under the purview of Tengku Adnan’s ministerial, had issued more than 20 other temple demolition orders.
He said the Indian community wanted to know whether Tengku Adnan, who signed on the behalf of BN the memorandum of understanding with Hindraf to implement the five-year Indian Blueprint, was committed to honouring the agreement.
He said Indian community was curious to know on whether Tengku Adnan was committed to find permanent and comprehensive solutions to various issues including Hindu temples, or he would continue to ignore the MoU and carry on demolishing the Hindu temples in Kuala Lumpur.
He said Hindraf signed the MoU with the BN upon the ruling coalition’s commitment to correct historical wrongs committed against the Indian and Hindu community for centuries.
By right, he said these temples should have been given land titles during the colonial period or they should have been gazetted as Hindu temple sites by the post-independence government.
“Both were not done hence, the problems faced today,” Waythamoorthy said.
He insisted that Hindraf forged a win-win alliance with BN hoping that the federal government would make good its promises to the Indians.
During the MoU signing, he said Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak publicly apologised to Indian Malaysians for BN government past lapses, and promised to work closely with Hindraf to find a permanent and comprehensive solution to the long standing problems faced by the community.
The issues included the 800,000 displaced estate workers, the admission of Indians to public educational institutions, upgrading the dilapidated and ill-equipped Tamil schools, better business and job opportunities as well as resolving the estimated 300,000 stateless Indian issue.
“The agreement must be honoured,” Waythamoorthy stressed.
DAP slams temple demolition
In another development, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng slammed the federal government for demolishing parts of the 101-year-old temple, saying that the “beautification” reason given was unacceptable.
“The DAP feels that there should have been negotiations before the temple was demolished…we don’t understand how they can use the excuse that they are beautifying the temple when it is obviously a demolition,” Lim said.
Speaking at a press conference at the Parliament lobby, the Penang Chief Minister and Bagan MP said the excuse was “suspicious” as it had been used by the federal government before in Penang.
He claimed that the government had demolished a port in Penang for “beautification” purposes, but years later, it had yet to rebuild the port.
“The deputy health minister himself made the guarantee that it was to be reconstructed, yet even until today, there has been no work done,” said Lim.
“So we saw this happen in Penang already, and now it’s happening again,” he noted.
Lim was responding to Tengku Adnan’s remarks yesterday that the DBKL will renovate and beautify the temple to highlight its century-old heritage.
“We plan to make the shrine like the famous Buddha statue in Hong Kong. It will become a tourist attraction,” he was quoted as saying at a press conference yesterday.
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