Kulasegaran: Management board should be set up for Hindu temples

The government has suggested that a Hindu Endowment Board is established at the national level to manage Hindu temples in the country.

Human Resources Minister M Kulasegaran made the suggestion following recent rioting incidents this week over the attempt by a developer to relocate the Seafield Sri Maha Mariamman Temple in USJ, Subang Jaya.

Kulasegaran was quoted by Free Malaysia Today as saying that there was no particular body with power or authority to monitor temples nationwide.

“The board would not take over the temples, but it should have the power to ask temples to be transparent and disclose their accounts," he said.

The DAP lawmaker also suggested that such a body should be placed under the Prime Minister's Department.

Early Monday morning, a group of intruders who were allegedly sent to the temple to take control of the area for relocation process had sparked a riot, after devotees who had gathered to protect the temple clashed with the intruders.

Tensions from the initial riot boiled over to the next night, when rioters, who had gathered again on the pretext of defending the temple, attacked and seriously injured a firefighter. - Mkini