Recently, MIC President S Samy Vellu called on the government to allocate land for Hindu temples. I read the news report with great disbelief and a lot of disdain.

It is all well and good that a so-called 'proposal' has been submitted to the prime minister but whether or not it will be followed through with appropriate action is yet to be seen.

I happened to watch an Al Jazeera programme recently about the temple demolitions in Malaysia. It was obvious that Samy Vellu displayed a lot of apathy with his disparaging remarks in the interview. He seemed to be in favour of the temples' demolition because they were built on private land.

As an Indian with interest in the issue, I felt very disappointed with his nonchalant remarks. I feel there should be greater sensitivity in dealing with this issue. The building of places of worship should be the basic right of a community.

The community should be able to make decisions on such matters. I believe politicians sensationalise issues for political mileage, often forsaking the people they are supposed to represent.

In this case of a request for more land for Hindu temples, we should be prepared for 'all talk and no action' as this has always been the stock response.