Ramasamy slams PMX’s demolition of “illegal” Hindu temple call, selective enforcement narrative

 

ON Feb 9, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim gave his monthly meeting speech to the National Unity Ministry whereby he gave green light to local authorities in the country to demolish illegal temples.

To avoid misinterpretation of his directive, below is his verbatim speech in Bahasa Malaysia:

“Saya dengan ini, mahu umumkan ketetapan kita, tidak lagi mengizinkan yang tidak mengikut peraturan dan Majlis Bandaran diberi keizinan untuk bertindak supaya dibersihkan kawasan yang bukan hak kuil, supaya selesai masalah ini dengan baik”.

It is clear from his statement that Anwar wanted local authorities in the country to clean their areas of jurisdiction of “illegal” Hindu temples.

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This statement of his came about after the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi completed his two-day official visit to Malaysia.

The protests organised by Malay-Muslim NGOs in front of SOGO in Kuala Lumpur on the evening of Feb 7 was called off after the police stepped in to disallow the protests with the arrest and detention of few individuals. They were released after two days.

Balancing act

At the same time, to balance the arrests of the Malay-Muslim individuals, the police arrested four Indians, two of them grassroots activists of Urimai (United Rights of Malaysian Party).

The temple chairman of Hindu temple in Dengkil, Selangor was arrested and detained for operating a “illegal” house of worship.

Individuals who had nothing to do with the protests on Feb 7 were arrested and detained. There is possibility the three activists could be charged for sedition while the temple committee chairman for illegal trespass.

It was Anwar who gave orders to the police to clamp down on the protests on Feb 7.

It was the same Anwar who two days later in his monthly address to civil servants in Putrajaya gave orders to the local authorities to clear their respective areas of “illegal” Hindu temples.

Hindu temples in the country – many of them built during the colonial period – were not by design meant to be illegal.

Even though the governments during the independence and post-independence period did not accord priority to non-Muslim religions, they had nevertheless maintained the status-quo of the “illegal” Hindu places of worship.

But Anwar mischievously gave a narrow interpretation as though the only “illegal” structures on government lands were the Hindu temples.

He conveniently forgot that thousands of road-side stalls, other religious houses of worship, restaurants, workshops, etc dot the areas of jurisdiction of the local authorities.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim (Image credit: Anwar Ibrahim/Facebook)

Appeasing the majority

Land in the country comes under the state governments or in some cases the federal government.

Granted those local authorities – whether municipal councils or city councils – have enforcement powers, shouldn’t they be concerned with other illegal structures that might far outnumber the “illegal” Hindu temples?

The question is why Anwar merely highlighted the “illegal” presence of Hindu temples and not other structures. Is this because it is now a hot topic of some Malay-Muslim NGOs in the country?

Is this a political move on the part of Anwar to downplay the arrests and detentions of Malay-Muslim protestors on the evening on Feb 7, hence the over-emphasis on “illegal” Hindu temples?

Urimai interim chairman Prof Ramasamy Palanisamy

A magnanimous PM would have sought to resolve the “illegal” temples by way of a consultative approach and not ordering the local authorities to remove the illegal structures by way of their forced removal or demolition.

Anwar’s disparagement of the “illegal” Hindu temples was a testimony to his attempts to appease the Malay-Muslim majority in the country.

He might think and act that his directive to the local councils to remove the presence of “illegal” might ingratiate himself with the majoritarian community.

Unfortunately, Anwar might not realise that the horses have left their stables long before the gates were closed. In other words, Anwar can turn and twist but the Malay support has gone away for good.

Smart thinking Malays know very well that Anwar is playing to the popular ethnic and religious narratives by singling out the “illegal” Hindu temples for their removal or demolition.

Whether Hindus in the country are going to be silent on the removal of their places of worship remains to be seen.

Needless to say, sycophants in DAP and PKR will continue to defend and humour Anwar for their own shameless political survival at the expense of the dignity and self-respect of the Hindu community. 

 Former DAP stalwart and Penang deputy chief minister II Prof Ramasamy Palanisamy is chairman of the United Rights of Malaysian Party (Urimai) interim council.

The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of  MMKtT.

- Focus Malaysia.