The United Nations has been urged to immediately advise the Malaysian government to stop demolishing Hindu temples and recognised them as legitimate places of worship.

The Hindu Actions Rights Force (Hindraf) today submitted the appeal meant for UN secretary-general Kofi Annan, as a last resort after exhausting all local avenues to stop the demolitions.

Previously, the group had written formal complaints to the Malaysian Human Rights Commission, Attorney-General, de facto Law Minister, the Sultan of Selangor, the King and repeatedly to Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, all of which to no avail.

"Over the past six months, we have made various attempts to convince the government to stop this unlawful practices (but we are) disappointed that the government has never made a stand on the issue," said Hindraf chief P Waythamoorthy.

In the memorandum, Waythamoorthy called on Annan to advise the Malaysian government to observe and enforce all international conventions and legislations pertaining to religious rights namely:

Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948

Declaration on the Elimination of All forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief 1981

Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities 1992

Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognised Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms 1998

International Convention on the Elimication of All Forms of Racial Discrimination 1966

Direct to Annan's office

Together with representatives from the Hindu community, activist and opposition parties, Waythamoorthy submitted the memorandum to senior programme manager Dr Hari Ramalu Ragavan at Wisma UN, Petaling Jaya.

Speaking to reporters later, lawyer M Manoharan claimed that Hari had assured the delegation that the memorandum would make its way directly to Annan's office as it was a valid and urgent complaint.

He added that while incidents of temple demolitions have drastically diminished of late, Hindraf would not take chances as there are many temples nationwide that have been served with eviction or demolition notices.

"If the government can allow venues for gambling, then why can't they provide places for (a minority religious group) to worship?" asked Manoharan.

According to the memorandum, at least eight temples mainly from the Klang Valley were demolished by local authorities between while more than a dozen others were given eviction or demolition notices, within February to early this month alone.

The temples are generally more than half a decade old and are usually destroyed in what has been described as 'pre-dawn strikes', while force were sometimes used to subdue those who attempt to resist the demolition.

Growing tensions among the Hindu community resulted in the Malaysia Hindu Sangam brokering a deal with the Kuala Lumpur City Hall in June to temporarily suspend such activities, to which Hindraf brushed aside as a piecemeal rather than a permanent solution.

In other states however, temple demolitions are still being carried out with the latest on Aug 1 when one temple in Tampoi, Johor and another in Petaling Jaya, Selangor were destroyed by local authorities.

According to Waythamoorthy, temple caretakers of Sri Sakti Nagama Temple lodged a police report against the Petaling Jaya mayor over the incident and alleged that no notice were given prior to the demolition.