The government has deliberately insulted all Hindus in Malaysia by tearing down three deities at the 101-year-old Muneswarar kuil, claimed a lawyer.
Adviser to the temple committee N Surendran said that the ambush operation yesterday was to destroy a place of worship and nothing short of sacking Federal Territories Minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, and restoring the deities and temple land would appease the community.
“It was an insult to Hinduism and the Indian community in this country,” Surendran (left) said at the temple site to over a dozen barefooted reporters.
“It was sacrilege and desecration of a place of worship carried out not by individuals but by Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL), and the Federal Territories Ministry, which means the government is responsible.”
He said that Najib Abdul Razak’s government had violated Section 295 of the Penal Code, and Tengku Adnan had misled the public by telling some media that it was an attempt to refurbish and not demolish the temple. The Muneswarar temple on Jalan P Ramlee is the only and oldest one in the golden triangle, in the heart of KL city.
Adviser to the temple committee N Surendran said that the ambush operation yesterday was to destroy a place of worship and nothing short of sacking Federal Territories Minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, and restoring the deities and temple land would appease the community.
“It was an insult to Hinduism and the Indian community in this country,” Surendran (left) said at the temple site to over a dozen barefooted reporters.“It was sacrilege and desecration of a place of worship carried out not by individuals but by Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL), and the Federal Territories Ministry, which means the government is responsible.”
He said that Najib Abdul Razak’s government had violated Section 295 of the Penal Code, and Tengku Adnan had misled the public by telling some media that it was an attempt to refurbish and not demolish the temple. The Muneswarar temple on Jalan P Ramlee is the only and oldest one in the golden triangle, in the heart of KL city.
“We place blame where it lies - this is the fault and act of the government of Malaysia. Najib’s government has deliberately insulted the religious sentiment of every Hindu in this country... by coming and smashing our statues, by coming and walking around in boots and smoking all over the place,” Surendran, who is also a PKR vice president, said.
Surendran showed reporters the damaged deities which were hacked off from a cement altar. He then showed a picture of uniformed DBKL officers forcefully removing the deities. Surendran then said that the defenders of the temple early on Sunday morning were also assaulted by over a hundred non-uniformed “gangsters” who he personally saw taking instructions directly from DBKL officials.
“Is DBKL employing gangsters and thugs in order to carry out their work?” Surendran asked.
‘Tengku Adnan needs to check his facts’
Subang MP R Sivarasa then joined him in defending the temple, rebutting what he said was minister Tengku Adnan’s earlier attempt to shrug off the status of the temple, which sat on a sliver of state land, surrounded by high-rise office towers all around it.
“I am calling Tengku Adnan an ignorant and arrogant liar.... he needs to check his facts,” he said, giving a rundown of historical documents to back the temple’s existence.
Sivarasa cited that even the company developing a 30-storey office building next to the temple, Hap Seng Consolidated Bhd, had sought a court order before building right up to the temple’s side. Reading from the court order, Sivarasa noted that a judge had ordered Hap Seng not to “demolish the wall of the temple building and it was also not an eviction order”.
Sivarasa also showed a 1978 document in which the government had tacitly agreed to let the temple reside at its location by approving water supply to the temple.
Some controversy however arose in 1999, when the temple had allegedly received a licence to operate drink stalls in the same vicinity but that licence was revoked in 2009, and Sivarasa said that the temple has since reverted to being a full temple with deities restored.
There however remains a signboard in front of the temple saying that it was a “Friday bazaar area”.
Sivarasa alleged that Sunday’s DBKL operations was a bid to seize back a slither of land for the benefit of building a walkway for the next-door developer.
“That land does not belong to Hap Seng... so I want to ask Tengku Adnan... why is the government giving such a valuable piece of land free to a developer, knowing at the same time that it has been occupied by this temple for many, many years?” Sivarasa said.
He promised that he would complain to the Malaysia Anti-Corruption Commission for a full public enquiry.
Meanwhile, WM Nalini, who is the acting secretary of the temple management committee, told Malaysiakini they would not budge.
“We don’t want to move because we have a right. We have been squatting on this land for the last 100 years... from the time of my great grandfather... we have a right to be here,” said Nalini, who was also among the 10 people arrested yesterday over the scuffle.
“This is where Hindus came from... this is only one place showing that Indians were here 100 years back.”
She said that her mother, who usually stayed at the temple, was first alerted to the DBKL ambush. The temple was open three hours in the morning and evening every day and has about 150-200 devotees.
Surendran showed reporters the damaged deities which were hacked off from a cement altar. He then showed a picture of uniformed DBKL officers forcefully removing the deities. Surendran then said that the defenders of the temple early on Sunday morning were also assaulted by over a hundred non-uniformed “gangsters” who he personally saw taking instructions directly from DBKL officials.
“Is DBKL employing gangsters and thugs in order to carry out their work?” Surendran asked.
‘Tengku Adnan needs to check his facts’
Subang MP R Sivarasa then joined him in defending the temple, rebutting what he said was minister Tengku Adnan’s earlier attempt to shrug off the status of the temple, which sat on a sliver of state land, surrounded by high-rise office towers all around it.
“I am calling Tengku Adnan an ignorant and arrogant liar.... he needs to check his facts,” he said, giving a rundown of historical documents to back the temple’s existence.
Sivarasa cited that even the company developing a 30-storey office building next to the temple, Hap Seng Consolidated Bhd, had sought a court order before building right up to the temple’s side. Reading from the court order, Sivarasa noted that a judge had ordered Hap Seng not to “demolish the wall of the temple building and it was also not an eviction order”.
Sivarasa also showed a 1978 document in which the government had tacitly agreed to let the temple reside at its location by approving water supply to the temple.
Some controversy however arose in 1999, when the temple had allegedly received a licence to operate drink stalls in the same vicinity but that licence was revoked in 2009, and Sivarasa said that the temple has since reverted to being a full temple with deities restored.
There however remains a signboard in front of the temple saying that it was a “Friday bazaar area”.Sivarasa alleged that Sunday’s DBKL operations was a bid to seize back a slither of land for the benefit of building a walkway for the next-door developer.
“That land does not belong to Hap Seng... so I want to ask Tengku Adnan... why is the government giving such a valuable piece of land free to a developer, knowing at the same time that it has been occupied by this temple for many, many years?” Sivarasa said.
He promised that he would complain to the Malaysia Anti-Corruption Commission for a full public enquiry.
Meanwhile, WM Nalini, who is the acting secretary of the temple management committee, told Malaysiakini they would not budge.
“We don’t want to move because we have a right. We have been squatting on this land for the last 100 years... from the time of my great grandfather... we have a right to be here,” said Nalini, who was also among the 10 people arrested yesterday over the scuffle.
“This is where Hindus came from... this is only one place showing that Indians were here 100 years back.”
She said that her mother, who usually stayed at the temple, was first alerted to the DBKL ambush. The temple was open three hours in the morning and evening every day and has about 150-200 devotees.
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