PETALING JAYA: A petition to “save” the Sri Maha Mariamman Temple in USJ25, where violence has erupted over the past two days, has been launched online.
The creator of the petition Elangovan Annamalai said the 147-year-old temple was in danger of being demolished and they needed everyone’s support to uphold and retain the heritage.
He said that while there was a lot of speculation about the temple, the truth would prevail.
As of the time of writing, the petition has been signed more than 15,000 people.
The temple, which is on land belonging to developer One City Development Sdn Bhd, is supposed to be relocated based on a consent judgment by the court in 2014.
On Sept 28 this year, Shah Alam High Court issued a notice requesting temple occupiers to vacate the premises before Oct 15.
Nagaraju Meganathan, 64, who has claimed that his grandfather built the temple when the area was an oil palm plantation had previously said the current site was supposed to be gazetted in 1987, but nothing materialised.
They were supposed to relocate in 2015, Nagaraju had said, but he refused to then because the land in USJ 23 was not gazetted as per the clause in the consent letter.
The temple committee agreed to move to the alternative site, and a temporary structure to house deities during the relocation was built in June last year. A temple proper was supposed to be built at a later date.
The pandemonium at the temple begun early on Monday (Nov 26) morning, following a scuffle between two groups which resulted in several people being hurt and 18 vehicles torched.
On Tuesday (Nov 27) morning, further violence resulted in more vehicles set ablaze and property damage at One City Mall.
In the fracas, a fireman was badly injured and has been admitted into the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at a hospital at Subang Jaya.
Police have so far detained 21 people in connection with the violence at the temple.- Star
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