“If you find it upsetting, then stop doing it so that others won’t follow. If you choose to continue, then don’t be offended (when others mock it). So, pick one.”

- Zamri Vinoth, mocking Hindus celebrating Thaipusam

COMMENT | When extremists talk of the destruction or relocation of “illegal temples”, what they are really doing is sanctioning the destruction of historical sites.

The older the temple, the greater the victory, because of the religious, historical, and cultural significance of these temples, which existed before contemporary municipal law and, in some cases, colonial law.

This demonstrates the superiority of the state religion. Terming these temples as “illegal”  gives extremists and the state the fig leaf of legal cover and enables the victimhood mentality, which is the foundation of identity politics.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s declaration of the great victory of the construction of the Madani mosque on the site of the Dewi Sri Pathrakaliamman Temple is exactly the kind of hot-button issue that religious cretins use to inflame communal sentiment in this country.

The fact that...