Now, temple faction plans Parliament protest

The Sri Maha Mariamman Temple in Seafield, which will be relocated on Nov 22.

SUBANG JAYA: A group opposed to a Hindu temple committee’s agreement to move out of a land belonging to a developer is planning to gather outside the Parliament building next week, and wants Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad to intervene despite a court judgment four years ago.

The Sri Maha Mariamman Temple in Seafield here is slated for relocation to a bigger land some 3 km away, based on a High Court consent judgment involving several parties including the Selangor state government in 2014.

But the group called Save Seafield Sri Maha Mariamman Temple said the temple, which was built about 40 years ago, is a historical heritage and should not be relocated.

Its leader S Ramaji accused the government of ignoring their protests.

“This is a new government, but they have offered no solution and are not proactive,” he said, adding that they would gather outside Parliament on Nov 21, a day before the temple’s relocation.

“We want the prime minister to intervene and come to help us find a solution. No one is hearing our pleas,” he said.

S Ramaji and VK Raghu insist the Sri Maha Mariamman Temple should remain where it is.

He is joined by VK Raghu, who heads the Malaysian chapter of the World Hindu Council, who described the temple as unique for Hindus in the area.

“The nearest Devi temple is in Kelana Jaya. Over 90% of the Indian community in Malaysia are generally devotees of Devi or Amman, and from USJ 1 to 21, they now do not have a temple,” Raghu said, referring to a Hindu goddess.

He said that if the government “had brains”, it would be concerned about maintaining Hindu places of worship as they did with mosques and churches.

The decision to relocate was seen as a win-win solution. Other than the developer One City and the state government, the settlement was also agreed on by two claimants to the temple management, K Chellappa and M Nagaraju.

Under the settlement, One City would donate RM1.5 million to build a new temple on one of two plots of land given to the temple by One City.

Chellappa has since been named as the rightful temple manager. Nagaraju, in an about-turn, is now seeking to stop the relocation.

The temple’s relocation last month was postponed to Nov 22 after a six-hour standoff with devotees who refused to allow the removal of the main deity.

Among the issues raised by opponents of the temple’s relocation was a Banyan tree, which they said was 147 years old, and considered by devotees as sacred.

At a press conference today, Raghu said devotees were the “real stakeholders” of the temple.

“They normally come in the thousands. On Fridays and Saturdays, we usually have crowds of up to 2,000,” he said.

Raghu claimed that over 30 NGOs want the temple to remain on its present site. - FMT