Hindu Agamam Ani Association will continue with its peaceful prayer gathering this Sunday aimed at “saving” the Batu Caves Sri Mahamariamman Temple and reforming the temple's caretaker committee.
This is despite a court injunction issued On Wednesday against Agamam Ani president Arun Dorasamy and his associates from uttering negative remarks against the temple caretaker committee and its president Nadarajah Ratnam.
"There is an interim injunction issued by the court against me personally speaking on 29 matters," Arun told Malaysiakini.
"However, there is no injunction on the gathering. So the gathering at Batu Caves is on and we are expecting a huge crowd of between 30,000 and 50,000," he said.
He also said that he will still speak at the gathering.
"As of now, I have not been served (with the court injunction) and there is no attempt by the temple committee to look for me. So, I am not bound by (the ruling) yet," he said.
"We call for the 'saving' of the Batu Caves temple by registering its temple committee under the Registrar of Societies (ROS) and to reform its management," he said.
The temple committee was said to be operating based on a 1930 court order from a civil suit and is not registered with the ROS, said previous media reports.
Meanwhile, Minority Rights Action Party senior vice-president S Gobi Krishnan said the ROS was not established in the 1930s thus explaining why the temple's committee is not placed under the purview of ROS.
He, however, questioned why it failed to register with ROS when the caretakers of thousands of other Hindu temples had done so.
"The Batu Caves temple is the mother temple for all temples in the country. It receives allocations from both the federal government and the state government as well as (donations) from the public.
"So it is nothing wrong for the community to demand transparency in their financial matters.
"You cannot allow a small group who claim to be trustees without any transparency manage the temple and its bank accounts,” he told a press conference.
Political patronage
The press conference was called to pledge the party's support for the peaceful prayer gathering on Sunday.
Gobi called on attorney-general Tommy Thomas to make it compulsory for the temple's committee trustee to register with the ROS and a probe be carried out now that a new government was in a place.
The Batu Caves Sri Mahamariamman Temple is a focal point for the annual Thaipusam ritual which draws up to a million Hindus nationwide.
It and its chairperson Nadarajah have long been mired in controversy over allegations that funds donated to the temple have been misappropriated.
Critics charge that action could be taken against the temple committee as they were protected by political patronage, chiefly the MIC under S Samy Vellu who was a member of the then ruling BN coalition.
Nadarajah has flatly denied all allegations and said that the temple's finances were conducted above-board and that the allegations from NGOs were aimed at control of the temple and its coffers.
(Picture above shows then deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi flanked by Samy Vellu (left) and Nadarajah (right) at this year's Thaipusam celebrations in January.) -Mkini
SPRM should investigate the allegations as its the wish of most Hindus in the country.
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