MIC Youth has described the long-awaited decision to gazette the historical Vivekananda Ashram building in Brickfields into a heritage site, as a sweet victory.

Its Youth chief C Sivarraajh said this was a victory for Malaysians who had organised an immediate protest once they learned that the 110-year old ashram was to be redeveloped.

“Now the ashram will continue to be a centre of peace and tranquility,” he said in a statement yesterday.

On Thursday, Kuala Lumpur Mayor Ahmad Phesal Talib had said that he was informed by the National Heritage Department that they were considering declaring the ashram a heritage building.

On Nov 5, last year, Tourism and Culture Minister Mohamad Nazri Abdul Aziz revealed that the National Heritage Department had once again offered the Vivekananda Ashram Board to gazette it as a national heritage site even though the offer made on Nov 13, 2008 was turned down.

According to media reports, the Vivekananda Ashram’s board of trustees’ plan to redevelop the site in Brickfields into a 23-storey apartment had sparked off a spate of controversies including protests from the Indian community in the area and throughout the country.

The board of trustees defended their action that the move would provide funds for schools and charity homes under its care and for its future plans.

For the Indians, the Swami Vivekananda Ashram is a symbol of its presence in the country with the first school built by the ashram in 1914.

The decision to redevelop the building caused uproar among the Indian community in the country and triggered a series of protest, petitions and organised signature campaigns.

- Bernama