MIC Youth stage demo, wants MB’s head to roll

MIC Youth marched to the Selangor state secretariat building over the demolition of a shrine, demanding that both the MB and exco Dr Xavier Jayakumar tender their resignations.

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SHAH ALAM: MIC Youth today staged a peaceful protest in front of the Selangor state secretariat building demanding Menteri Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim and exco Dr Xavier Jayakumar to resign over the demolition of a Hindu shrine in Sepang.

Led by Youth chief T Mohan, who submitted a memorandum to the state government, the protesters also demanded a public apology over the demolition carried out by the Sepang Municipal Council (MPS) in the compound of S Gobikumar’s residence here on Nov 20.

“We want Khalid and Jeyakumar to resign immediately,” Mohan told reporters.

While more than 1,000 people had turned up at Dataran SACC, only about 500 joined in the march to the secretariat building.

Carrying banners, the protesters called on Jeyakumar and Pakatan Rakyat leaders to “wake up” in order to defend the rights of non-Muslims in the state.

Among others, the banners read: “Xavier jangan tidur” (Xavier don’t sleep) and “Sejak 2008 Pakatan telah merobohkan tujuh kuil” (since 2008, Pakatan has demolished seven temples).

Apart from MIC Youth, local Indian-based NGOs like Perinbam, IASA, Tamillar Uthavum Karangal, Nambikkai and others also took part.

Mohan told reporters that the memorandum was submitted to Jayakumar’s personal assistant Abdul Razak.

“We are not like Jeyakumar and his team who are opportunists,” said the MIC Youth chief in denying that the protest was to fish for Indian votes.

“Pakatan Indian leaders are always claiming they are sincere but why are they keeping mum on this issue,” he added, urging MPS to rebuild the shrine.

Mohan also took Jayakumar to task for issuing contradicting statements over the matter.

The exco had asserted that the demolition was according to the Local Council Act but yesterday he issued another statement claiming that it was an act of “sabotage”.

He also said that the state government was unaware about the incidents and the exco council did not issue any orders to demolish the shrine.

“Look, how he twists his words,” claimed Mohan. “First, he said everything was done according to rules. And now he puts the blame on others.”

“He should investigate who ordered the demolition,” he added.

He also claimed that Jayakumar’s initial comment that the shrine was merely a “structure with no idols inside” was an insult to the Indian community.

“Even if it is just a structure, is it OK to demolish it by trespassing into someone’s house? All this talk goes against what was said before the general election when they promised not to demolish any place of worship,” he said.