MIC deputy president M Saravanan has urged PAS’ party leadership to "educate" its Kedah Menteri Besar Muhammad Sanusi Mohd Nor on how to govern a state in a multi-cultural nation.
He said MIC and PAS have always enjoyed cordial relations, but Sanusi’s actions are testing those ties.
“I sincerely hope that the PAS leadership will educate him on how to lead in a multi-racial and multi-religious country like Malaysia.
“A menteri besar should be a leader for all races in the state and not trample on the rights of other races for the sake of his popularity,” he said in a statement today.
The human resources minister said Sanusi’s defence for cancelling the public holiday in conjunction with Thaipusam made no sense, and is degrading to Hindus in Kedah.
While Sanusi had told MIC to lobby the federal government to gazette Thaipusam as a national holiday, Saravanan said Sanusi’s response was "amateurish" because he should realise this would be a time-consuming process.
He also challenged Sanusi to name the Hindu groups that he purportedly met before announcing the revocation of the holiday.
“The Kedah menteri besar should have held a proper meeting with all the representatives of the Hindu community, including political parties, before making a decision on the matter.
“It should not just be a meeting with three groups, in a one-way meeting, where you vomit whatever you want to say without getting any proper feedback.
“I also wish to remind the menteri besar that although there are only 6.8 percent Indians in the state, this small percentage can make a big difference when it comes to the general election,” he said.
Separately, MIC senator S Vell Paari said although there would be no kavadi processions and mass gatherings in conjunction with Thaipusam celebrations this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, certain religious obligations must still be fulfilled.
“Hindus carry the kavadi to fulfil a vow. Certain things must be observed before one carries the kavadi, for example, fasting. But due to the pandemic standard operating procedure (SOP), there will be no kavadi processions or mass gatherings.
“But nothing stops one from doing this at home. There are various different kavadi - from big ones to carrying milk in a small earthen pot. I do not wish to go into details. But one can carry a small or big kavadi to an altar depending on the size of his house.
“However, it would be difficult to do this if there is no public holiday,” he said in a statement.
Vell added that there is no need to cancel the public holiday as the movement control order and its restrictions are already in place.
In addition, he accused Sanusi of trying to "settle the score" over criticism the menteri besar previously received on the demolition of Hindu temples in the state.
Thaipusam falls on Jan 28 this year, which was originally marked as an "occasional holiday" (cuti peristiwa) in Kedah since 2016.
However, Sanusi announced yesterday that the public holiday would be cancelled, although religious events for the occasion are still allowed with strict conditions.
The decision to nix the holiday has courted flak from MIC, Pakatan Harapan, and even former Umno president Najib Abdul Razak.
In response to criticism, Sanusi said the move is not meant to sideline Hindus and MIC should lobby for the federal government to make it a national holiday.
Prior to this, Sanusi had been accused of being anti-Hindu by critics, after the PAS state government demolished two Hindu temples.
He also hit back at critics then, saying they should not be "drunk on the toddy of popularity".
However, he denied the remarks were racist but were instead metaphorical and proverbial. - Mkini
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