Politicians to blame for raising the heat, think tank says after temple fracas

The scene at the Sri Maha Mariamman temple in USJ 25 during the second night of violence last night.

KUALA LUMPUR: A think tank today attributed the second night of violence at the Seafield Sri Maha Mariamman temple to the “attack” by a group of politicians who questioned the police explanation of the initial scuffle between devotees and another group.

In a statement, the Centre for a Better Tomorrow (Cenbet) said politicians were partly responsible for “raising the temperature”.

“When a group of senior politicians attacked the police and questioned the OCPD, they knowingly or otherwise emboldened those who were already carried away by sentiments.

“Politicians should have worked with the police and the temple dispute parties to resolve the problem and lower the political temperature, not add fuel to the fire,” said Cenbet vice-president Simon Lim.

He was referring to a joint statement by federal ministers M Kulasegaran, Xavier Jayakumar, Gobind Singh Deo, P Waytha Moorthy and deputy minister R Sivarasa criticising the Subang Jaya police for describing the first incident as a fight between two Indian groups when the intruders were non-Indians.

They also questioned the police response, calling it slow and inadequate.

Lim added that the police were to blame as well, saying they should have cordoned off the area surrounding the temple after the first night of violence.

“A stronger police presence there would have prevented things from getting out of hand for the second consecutive night,” he added.

“But these were not done, resulting in chaos, including the unfortunate and unnecessary injuries sustained by fireman Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim at the hands of mobsters.”

Urging the police to arrest those responsible for the disturbance, Lim said such lapses in action “couldn’t have come at a worse time”.

“Racial-religious tension has again climbed, following the government’s decision not to ratify ICERD, and the slew of provocative statements, including those made by the former deputy prime minister, a current minister and several heads of NGOs.”

He was referring to Putrajaya’s decision not to ratify the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination following threats, actions, and statements by several NGOs and political parties, including former deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

“Such lapses allow extremists to harvest discontent and sow further discord, to the detriment of nation building,” he added, urging the authorities to use “the full force of the law in combating such undesirable elements”.  FMT