The police have been urged to speed up their investigations following the desecration of four Hindu temples in the past two months.

While commending the appointment of Penang deputy police chief A Thaiveegan as the leader of a special team formed to investigate the crimes, Hindu Sangam president RS Mohan Shan said the police must investigate the incidents promptly.

“My request (is that) there shouldn’t be another incident. We can’t keep everybody calm for long. They (Hindus) ask me what Hindu Sangam is doing, what MIC is doing,” Mohan told Malaysiakini.

The latest incident, which occurred on Sunday, saw the Sri Muneeswarar temple vandalised, with three statues of deities found smashed.

Deputy Chief Minister II P Ramasamy said that unlike the three other cases, the latest act of vandalism gave the impression of a hate crime.

Commenting further on the incidents, Mohan blamed increased fanaticism that he said has been observed of late.

“Fanaticism is getting worse; all religions must work together to overcome this problem. We don’t encourage any fanaticism in any religion,” he said.

Mohan also asserted that the respective committees in charge of the temples were at fault for not securing the temples properly.

“All the temples attacked were without fences and did not have proper security,” he said.

On inspector-general of police Khalid Abu Bakar’s suggestion that temples install closed-circuit television cameras (CCTVs) in the temples, Mohan said could be done, but ultimately it all came down to ringgit and sen.

“Our people are suffering to run the temples; not all temples get funding, most depend on donations. As it is, the funds are not enough to run temple activities.

“Even if CCTVs are fixed, and the attacker comes wearing a helmet, what are you going to do about it?” he said, adding that some temples were not properly built, leading to the lack of places to instal CCTVs.

A better way would be for temple committees to employ security guards, Mohan suggested.

‘Credibility of police can be questioned’

Meanwhile, Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia (Abim) secretary-general Muhammad Faisal Abdul Aziz is also of the opinion that the police have to speed up their investigations.

“Because there's a possibility that this may happen again, the credibility of the police is under question.

“We hope that investigations can be concluded promptly because this is not a normal issue. If there was only one incident, maybe the police could take their time, but now it keeps recurring,” Faisal said.

He also expressed hope that the incident had nothing to do with an act of terror.

“Maybe those behind it are simply irresponsible and don't know the importance of places of worship.

“If, indeed, it was an act of terror, this means our country’s security must be given more attention. This gives a signal that we must unite in fighting extremism,” he said.

However, any delay in the investigations would only lead to more negative perceptions, he noted.

“To avoid this, the police have to take the issue seriously, come out with at least one quick breakthrough,” Faisal contended.