Kula 'staggered' by Bujang destruction

DAP national vice-chairperson M Kulasegaran said he was "staggered" to hear the news of the destruction of a Hindu temple structure at the renowned Bujang Valley archaeological site in Kedah.

Reached in London, where he was on stopover en route to Bogota for a conference of the Parliamentary Group for Global Action, of which he is a member, the MP for Ipoh Barat said: "Only someone who has no appreciation whatsoever for the value of a historical site could have allowed a thing like this to happen."

The structure of the Hindu temple dating from the 8th century, was destroyed by developers clearing the area for their housing project.

"By allowing this to happen, the governments at state and federal levels have made it clear that they care a damn about the cultural sensitivities of people, other than the dominant race and religion of this country," he said.

Kulasegaran said the authorities appeared to want to erase traces in the country's heritage that belonged to minority races and religions.

He said the action made it "embarrassing" for Indian and Hindu members of the ruling coalition to continue to support the government by not vacating their positions.

"Their continued stay in government will only make them complicit in this act of cultural erasure."

The federal legislator said news of the destruction of the Hindu temple structure came just as Prime Minister Najib Razak officiated the MIC general assembly, at which the BN chairperson spoke of Indian support flowing back to the ruling coalition.

"I don't think the PM is so crass as to expect that the people his government is trampling on can actually be led by the nose to support the erasure of their historical identity," asserted Kulasegaran.