BN risks losing trust of Indians, warns Waytha
The BN government may risk losing the trust of Indian Malaysians if temple demolitions continue, Persatuan Hindraf Malaysia (PHM) has warned.
Reminding the BN of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) it signed with PHM, its chairperson P Waythamoorthy said the BN should engage with PHM to find solutions instead of "arbitrarily" demolishing temples.
The BN government may risk losing the trust of Indian Malaysians if temple demolitions continue, Persatuan Hindraf Malaysia (PHM) has warned.
Reminding the BN of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) it signed with PHM, its chairperson P Waythamoorthy said the BN should engage with PHM to find solutions instead of "arbitrarily" demolishing temples.
Waythamoorthy said this was among the points agreed upon in the
memorandum
BN chairperson Najib Abdul Razak signed with the group on April 18.
"Although the BN made a firm commitment to PHM in regard to temples, the lacklustre attitude depicted in the recent Jalan P Ramlee temple matter and the statement on future demolishments, reasserted again, will without doubt cause unwarranted anguish and anxiety among the Indian Malaysian community.
"PHM urges Federal Territories Minister Tengku Adnan (Mansor) to seriously consider the impact of any further demolishing of temples on the Indian community's trust in BN in implementing its election promises," he said in a statement today.
More temples pending demolition
Waythamoorthy was referring to the demolition of the annexe of the Sri Muneswarar Kaliyamman Temple on Jalan P Ramlee in Kuala Lumpur on Nov 10.
Subsequently, Tengku Adnan reportedly said that there are more temples squatting illegally in the Klang Valley that are pending demolition or relocation.
According to Waythamoorthy, 79 temples have been demolished in 2006 and 2008, of which 15 are located in the Klang Valley. He said another 20 temples in the Klang Valley are facing a similar fate.
He disputed Tengku Adnan's claim that the temples are illegal, pointing out that they have been in existence even before Independence.
"The failure of the government to draw up clear policies for those temples that had existed pre-1957, without heeding to the importance of a place of worship and its sanctity to the Indian Malaysian community, does not constitute that those temples are illegal," he said.
Waythamoorthy urged Tengku Adnan to reconvene a meeting with PHM to work out a permanent solution on the matter, which he said had been cancelled before and was now long overdue.
