Hindu Sangam calls for govt intervention over temple demolition in Kamunting prison

The Malaysian Hindu Sangam (MHS) has called for government intervention over the demolition of a temple inside the Kamunting Detention Camp in Taiping, Perak.

This comes after the temple was demolished in April, allegedly without its caretaker committee and the MHS being notified.

MHS president Mohan Shan said today they are suggesting that the government or the Prisons Department assist in moving the Hindu deities that used to be at the temple to a new site at the Sin Wah Plantation in Kamunting.

The deities are currently being kept in Penang by a prison officer. 

"We have a suggestion on how to solve this issue, that is to relocate the temple to the Sin Wah Plantation. 

"I am asking the government to intervene to solve this problem so that it won't become a sensitive issue, because it (the prison) is in a restricted area. I heard that the deities from the temple are now being kept in a temple in Penang, taken there by a Penang Prisons Department officer.

"I want to ask the Prisons Department and the government or anyone who is willing to help financially, to bring these deities back into the hands of the temple caretakers and assist in building a small temple at the site provided inside the plantation so that this matter can be resolved peacefully," Mohan said.

Malaysiakini contacted Mohan after the issue of the temple demolition was highlighted by Penang deputy chief minister P Ramasamy on his Facebook, where he posted a photo of a police report by an activist over the incident.

According to Mohan, the temple had been at the site prior to the development of the Kamunting prison facility and was used by Hindu Prisons Department officers to pray.

However, problems arose when a group of Hindu officers started to renovate the temple sometime between 2017 and 2018, which Mohan claimed occurred after the officers had received verbal permission from the prison commandant at that time.

The Prisons Department then allegedly received complaints from other officers which led to fences being erected around the temple to prevent anyone from entering.

Following this, a meeting was held between the MHS, the temple committee and officers from the Prisons Department headquarters.

Mohan said MHS had given two suggestions, either to relocate the temple to another area within the prison facility or relocate it to the site of a bigger Hindu temple at the Sin Wah Plantation. The latter option comes with a request for financial assistance.

However, he claimed that the authority did not agree with either of the options.

"There was no word until now when we learned that the temple has been demolished. This was done without notifying the temple committee or us," he said.

Mohan claimed the authorities had carried out the demolition with approval from the Lands and Mines Office, allegedly without giving the latter the full picture of the issue.

Meanwhile, Taiping district police chief Osman Mamat, when contacted, confirmed that they had received a police report.

He said police investigations, however, found that there were no criminal elements and all procedures had been followed before the demolition was carried out.

According to Osman, this included notifying the temple caretakers beforehand following which no objection was made.

"The temple is no longer in use. And the people in the area also knew about the demolition operation but there was no objection received when the demolition was carried out," he said. - Mkini