Sri Muneswarar Kaliyaman Hindu temple demolition

Instil patriotism to prevent Indians from criminal activities

Foreigners work hard to make a living but locals are resorting to short-cuts to make quick money

KUALA LUMPUR: The spirit of patriotism should be instilled in the Indian community from an early age to prevent youths from descending into criminal activities.

Selangor deputy police chief DCP A Thaiveegan, who has served in the force for 29 years, stressed that patriotism was not just about waving flags but must also be demonstrated by respecting the laws of the country.

He felt that someone who loved their country would not engage in any immoral activities but prefer to serve society instead.

“Despite all the facilities available to everyone across the board, we see a lot of young people falling into gangsterism, robbery and burglary just to get quick money. They don’t think of the consequences and how it affects their future,” he said.

He said it was an irony that foreigners made Malaysia their second home and proceeded to vastly improve their living standards, but the local community did not appreciate what was available to them.

“Bangladeshis, Pakistanis and Indonesians come to Malaysia to make a living. They work as carpet sellers, domestic and construction workers,” he said.

“They work very hard to send money back to their families and build large houses in their villages. But our people use ‘short-cuts’ to gain money,” he said, adding that the failure of the local community to work hard was the cause of rampant crime.

“All quarters, including schools, parents and religious institutions must foster love for the country among children in order to create peace and harmony,” he said.

-Bernama

Hindraf pressures Najib to honour promise

After more than 100 days in office, PM is still silent on the implementation of the blueprint agreed upon.

JURU: A local Hindraf leader today called on Umno ministers, who told P Waythamoorthy to quit as deputy minister, to instead question the Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak on what had happened on the movement’s blueprint.

Penang Hindraf chairman K Kalayselvam said Ministers Ahmad Zahidi Hamid, Hishammuddin Hussein and Khairy Jamaluddin should advise their boss to initiate pro-active steps to implement the blueprint.

Kalayselvam said the Umno ministers should realise that Hindraf signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to implement the five-year blueprint for betterment of marginalised segment of the Indian community.

He reminded the Umno ministers that Hindraf campaigned for Barisan Nasional in the last election to secure the long deprived rights of Indians in the country.

But, after 100 days in office since the last general election, he said Najib administration was yet to take any proactive step to implement the blueprint.

“We did not sign the MOU for any other reason except to improve the living standards of the marginalised Indians in the country,” emphasised Kalayselvam after a Hindraf seminar for Indian youth development here today. Some 120 people attended the seminar.

The Umno ministers called Waythamoorthy to quit Putrajaya administration after the Hindraf supremo questioned the police for slaying five ethnic Indian youths in name of criminality.

During the much-publicised MOU signing, Kalayselvam recalled that Najib had promised to implement the blueprint.

He said the blueprint among others, had spelt out various plans to assist Indian youths to earn a decent livelihood and prevent them from getting involved in crime.

He insisted that police action to shoot and kill crime suspects all these years had failed to curb rising crime rate anyway.

“The blueprint was also designed to reduce crime among Indians in a more holistic and comprehensive way.

“The government should take proactive steps immediately to implement the blueprint if it is serious to prevent Indians from becoming criminals,” he told newsmen.

‘Betrayed’ but PSM still needs Pakatan

SHAH ALAM: Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM), though “bullied” and “betrayed” by its Pakatan Rakyat friends, still needs to work with Pakatan to win elections, PSM chairman Dr Nasir Hashim said.

He said the left-wing political party shares a common goal with the opposition coalition and that is to bring down the Barisan Nasional (BN) government through the democratic process.

“We need Pakatan as much as PKR or PAS or DAP needs Pakatan,” he said in an interview with theantdaily.

He strongly believes that all the opposition parties must work together to advance their common objective.

However, Nasir, the former Kota Damansara state assemblyman, stressed that PSM has always been independent in its stand.

PSM's relationship with its Pakatan partners has been growing frosty in the aftermath of the 13th general election.

Although discussions are still ongoing about PSM joining the coalition, the talks are going nowhere.

The May polls especially left a bitter taste in PSM's mouth.

Nasir recalled that PSM faced a lot of problems during the GE13 because of the betrayal of its own “friends”.

“The problem is we did not see them (Pakatan allies) as the main enemy. We were focusing on BN as our main enemy," he said.

"We tried to reach a compromise (on meeting the needs of the rakyat and on gaining Pakatan’s much-needed support to win) with the hope that we could all unite.

“(But) we were trampled on, bullied, promises made to us were broken, and tackling our problems took a back seat as everyone was concerned with their own (political) well-being,” he said.

PSM ran into seat allocation problems with its Pakatan partners well past nomination day in GE13.

The Pakatan partners fielded candidates in three out of four seats that PSM contested, leading to multi-cornered fights.

Besides, the socialist party was not permitted to use its white fist logo in two constituencies.

Although the candidacy of Nasir for the Kota Damansara seat under the PKR banner was finally ironed out, the PAS candidate continued to run against him, causing both to lose.

“... the Kota Damansara seat was given to Umno on a silver platter,” Nasir said, adding that the same story of sabotage happened in Semenyih.

Ten arrested during temple 'demolition'

 

Ten people including MIC Youth chief T Mohan and PKR activist S Jayathas were today arrested when trying to stop Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) from erecting a wall at a 101-year-old temple at Jalan P Ramlee.

Also arrested in the standoff, which lasted at least five hours today, were two representatives of the Golden Triangle Muneswarar Kuil.

The rest are MIC Youth exco members and an aide to PKR's Padang Serai MP N Surendran. They are believe to have been brought to the Dang Wangi district police headquarters.

The activists had tried to stop DBKL from entering the temple as they said the temple committee were not notified of the construction work, as claimed by the DBKL.

Federal Territories and Urban Well-being Minister Tengku Adnan Mansor's aide R Ramanan, however, said that notice will be issued tomorrow as the mayor is currently overseas.

Speaking after an hour's meeting with MIC and PPP representatives, he added that work will continue despite protests, as this is a government decision.

Ramanan, who came an hour after the scuffles broke out said the work was to mark off eight feet wide strip of land which the government is giving to Hap Seng Consolidated Bhd.

"It is not to demolish the temple," he said, adding that the temple had encroached into government land and the wall will serve as a boundary.

Deities removed

The first scuffle broke out after DBKL contractors hacked off deities which were cemented onto an altar placed at the temple annexe, located within the eight feet wide area.

This resulted in the arrest of Jayathas and two temple representatives.

Temple committee chairperson RK Bala said that DBKL personnel had also entered with their boots on, while some were smoking.

He said that the removal of the deities should have been preceded with prayers and not in such a thuggish manner.

DBKL halted operations temporarily upon the urging of Padang Serai MP N Surendran and PPP Federal Territories chief A Chandrakumanan (middle, seated) but continued after Ramanan left.

"They removed our Lingam. I had tears in my eyes," Chandrakumanan told Ramanan in the meeting.

In the meeting Ramanan also promised that to put in the notice that only eight feet will be taken, and that Hap Seng will help beautify the temple as part of their corporate social responsibility.

Hap Seng is building a 30 storey office building next to the temple.

The MIC youth leaders were all nabbed in subsequent scuffles, with one breaking out after a DBKL personnel securing the worksite asking the activists whether they "had brains".

No notice from DBKL

Shouting and shoving, which happened while the temple bells rang in the background, carried on for several hours with activists even attempting a sit-in protest.

Work still continued while about 20 activists sat cross-legged chanting "Om Shanti".

Also clearly upset was temple caretaker RA Saroja, 57, who was also manhandled when she tried to push DBKL officers off the temple grounds and into the 8 feet boundary.

"Yesterday we were all '1Malaysia! Merdeka!' Is this what Merdeka is about?" she asked.

The temple was also due to hold Merdeka prayers today, but it was cancelled following the incident. DBKL's completed erecting most of the wall at about 3.30pm.

Meanwhile, the temple's legal advisor M Manogaran said the temple committee had snubbed meetings with the government as they refuse to concede the disputed land.

He also stressed that today's work, which was done by DBKL with the help of police, was also without notice.

"They say they sent (a letter), but it was not received. In other cases, they even paste the notice to ensure it is served, but here there is nothing," he said.

Sri Muneswarar Kaliyaman Hindu temple demolition, Kuala Lumpur.

A City Hall enforcement officer cutting the lock on the gate of the Sri Muneswarar Kaliyaman Hindu temple in Jalan P. Ramlee to enter the temple grounds. City Hall had moved in earlier today to demolish the 101-year-old temple. The Malaysian Insider pic by Afif Abd Halim, September 1, 2013.as the people lock inside

 

 

City Hall's move to demolish the 101-year-old Sri Muneswarar Kaliyaman Hindu temple in Jalan P. Ramlee today saw a commotion outside the temple gates this morning. The Malaysian Insider pic by Afif Abd Halim, September 1, 2013.

MIC Youth chief, others held in protest over Hindu temple demolition

MIC Youth chief T.Mohan getting arrested for trying to block DBKL and contractors from demolishing a temple in Jalan P.Ramlee in Kuala Lumpur today. The Malaysian Insider pic by Afif Abd Halim, September 1, 2013.
 MIC Youth chief T. Mohan became the latest politician to be held by police in a protest to stop Kuala Lumpur City Hall from demolishing the 101-year-old Sri Muneswarar Kaliyaman Hindu temple in Jalan P. Ramlee in the capital city today.

Police have also arrested few others in a commotion outside the temple as more supporters stream into the area to stop the demolition.

All those held were handcuffed and taken to the Dang Wangi district police headquarters.

This morning, police detained PKR's S.Jayathas when he tried to stop the demolition to make way for a pedestrian walkway as temple lawyers negotiate with the authorities.

The PKR deputy human rights chief was taken to Dang Wangi district police headquarters for obstructing civil servants from carrying out their duty under Section 186 of the Penal Code.

Lawyer Latheefa Koya said Jayathas, PKR vice-president N. Surendran and Kota Alam Shah assemblyman M. Manoharan went to the temple around 8am after receiving a message from the temple committee about the presence of City Hall officers there.

"They came and started to remove the deities and wanted to demolish the temple without any warning," said Latheefa.

Surendran, who is also the temple's lawyer, said more than 100 City Hall officers came this morning to demolish the temple.

The chaos in the temple as police break through the gate and try to enter, while devotees and their supporters try to block the passage. The Malaysian Insider pic by Afif Abd Halim, September 1, 2013."They brought over all the machines including the bulldozers ready to destroy the temple. They also brought a group of thugs to scare off the devotees who came to perform special prayers for National Day," he said.

The action taken by City Hall came a day after Malaysia celebrated its 56th National Day.

Surendran said City Hall's action was not valid as they do not have a court order to destroy the temple or deities.

The structure of the century-old temple, which was built in 1911, now sits on reserve land meant for roads or walkways.

Last year, the temple committee received an eviction notice after Hap Seng Land, which is constructing a 30-storey office building on the adjacent plot, was told that it would only be given a Certificate of Fitness if it built an 8-feet(2.4m) walkway along the building according to City Hall requirements.

But that could not be done as the temple sits on the land on which the walkway needed to be built.

Despite the intervention by local government, the temple committee and the developer failed to come to any agreement.

The developer previously offered to relocate the temple to a land in Sepang but it was rejected as the temple has a historical value and has been there for more than a century.

After numerous failed attempts in reaching an agreement, the developer took City Hall to court.

The court served an injunction to the temple and City Hall served it an eviction notice.

The temple has about 300 devotees and houses two main deities Muneswarar and Kaliamman, hence its name. - September 1, 2013.

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PKR veep roughed up in temple fracas

“We don’t care if you are an YB, we’ll whack you.” 
With that shouted threat, MP for Padang Serai N Surendran was pushed by a band of toughs when the PKR vice president tried, with a band of party activists, to stop Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) personnel from demolishing a Hindu temple in Kuala Lumpur today.

After the incident, which took place at the Golden Triangle Muneswarar Kuil on Jalan P Ramlee, Surendran lodged a report at the Dang Wangi district police headquarters on the assault he and his party colleagues suffered at the hands of unknown hoodlums.

The lawyer could consider himself lucky for his PKR compatriots, S Jayathas and K Nagarajan, were not only roughed up but arrested for allegedly trying to stop DBKL personnel from demolishing deities on the temple premises.

According to Surendran, a reputable developer of a project adjoining the temple had yet to obtain a court order enabling it to proceed with the demolition of the temple.

Surendran said that lawyers R Sivarasa, MP for Subang, and Manogaran, former DAP MP for Teluk Intan, had argued in the courts last year against an order for the temple’s demolition.

“The outcome of the proceedings was that no order was granted and the case is still pending in the courts which means that today’s demolition work was unauthorised,” said Surendran, who regularly acts for stateless residents and the families of victims of custodial deaths.

DBKL demolishing shops, not temple, says MIC chief

MIC President G Palanivel said the demolition works at the site of the historic Golden Triangle Muneswarar Kuil at Jalan P Ramlee is okay as long as the temple is not touched.

When asked by reporters about the incident today after being re-elected as the president of MIC unopposed, Palanivel said he had written to Federal Territories Minister Tengku Adnan Mansor urging him to stop him demolishing the temple.

“In the last cabinet meeting I wrote a letter to Tengku Adnan. They wanted to pull out the existing temple in the city area, so I presented a paper and he agreed to keep it.

“So they wanted to demolish all the other shops and all that, but that is okay.

“Not the temple, they are keeping the temple as it is. I am the one who wrote the letter to Tengku Adnan, they didn’t disturb it (the temple),” he said.

Earlier today four people, including PKR activist S Jayathas and MIC Federal Territories Youth chief D Tharmakumaran were arrested for trying to stop what they believed was the demolition of the temple.

When asked about the arrests Palanivel said that he hadn't heard about it yet as he had obviously been very busy this morning with the elections, and said he would look into it.

Four arrested during temple 'demolition'

PKR activist S Jayathas, MIC Federal Territories Youth chief D Tharmakumaran and two temple representatives have been arrested for allegedly trying to stop the demolition of a Hindu temple at Jalan P Ramlee Kuala Lumpur.

They are believe to have been brought to the Dang Wangi district police headquarters.
They were allegedly nabbed while attempting to stop the Kuala Lumpur City Hall's (DBKL) demolition of the Golden Triangle Muneswarar Kuil at Jalan P Ramlee in progress this morning.

However, Raman Ramakrishnan, an aide to Federal Territories Minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, told the temple officials later that DBKL was only trying to erect a retaining wall.

"It is not to demolish the temple," he said, adding that the temple had encroached into government land and the wall will serve as a boundary.

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