Indians losing trust in govt after Thaipusam SOPs, warns Saravanan

 

MIC deputy president M Saravanan (second from left) says the Hindus in the country are unhappy with the government’s SOPs for Thaipusam. (Bernama pic)

GOMBAK: The Thaipusam SOPs have further eroded the trust of the Indian community in the government, said human resources minister M Saravanan.

In a fiery speech at Batu Caves today, the MIC deputy president said the dissatisfaction was emblematic of a larger trend, which contributed to Barisan Nasional’s election defeat in 2018.

“I must put on record that by and large, Hindus in this country are very unhappy with (the government’s) decision,” he said.

“They ask me why thousands can go shopping at Pavilion but attendance at Batu Caves is limited.

“In the end, we are losing the trust of the community.”

National unity minister Halimah Mohamed Sadique previously said that only 6,000 devotees would be allowed on Jan 16, Jan 17 and Jan 19 at the Batu Caves Sri Subramaniar temple, the centre of the country’s celebrations.

She said only the carrying of paal kudam (milk pot), prayer activities and chariot processions would be allowed while the carrying of kavadis was not permitted.

The authorities have allowed only 9,000 people to attend today, a stark contrast to the hundreds of thousands of devotees who usually congregate at Batu Caves on Thaipusam day.

Halimah said there would be 12 prayer sessions in the temple on Jan 17 from 5am to 5pm, with 500 devotees allowed in the temple during each session. These sessions will last for 30 minutes, with another 30 minutes for sanitisation before the next group is allowed in.

The temple will be open from 5am to 11pm today, with 18 prayer sessions allowed with the same number of devotees each time.

Batu Caves Sri Subramaniar temple committee chairman R Nadarajah previously said more than 90,000 devotees had registered to attend prayers at the temple, and it would be impossible to cater to all of them under the current SOPs.

“Although the Indian community is not satisfied, you can see today for yourself, they are still following the set rules,” said Saravanan, adding he has received countless messages from the public expressing their dissatisfaction.

“This shows the maturity of the Indian community in this country.

“Even with one million (devotees), I am confident that with the police’s help, they will still follow the rules.” - FMT