A Malaysian Hindus group yesterday petitioned the government to halt the demolition of temples that they say are being destroyed at the rate of one every three weeks to clear the way for new developments.

The group of Hindu activists and devotees delivered a memorandum to influential minister Mohamed Nazri Aziz, attached to the Prime Minister's Department, calling for local authorities to stop the demolitions.

"We highlighted to the minister the problems faced by these ancient shrines being demolished," said Waytha Moorthy, from the Hindu Rights Action Force.

"Nazri said he would raise the matter with the prime minister and at the next cabinet meeting, and he gave us an assurance he would do everything in his power to stop the demolition of shrines," Moorthy told AFP.

The meeting follows the demolition of a century-old temple by Kuala Lumpur's city hall last month.

Cannot afford legal action

Many of the temples were built by Indian migrant labourers and used to stand on private land that has since been acquired by local and state authorities, who argue the temples are illegal buildings and have been knocking them down.

Moorthy said most of the devotees at the temples, which are up to 150 years old, were from lower income groups and were unable to afford legal action to protect the buildings.

Malaysia Hindu Sangam, a group representing over 1,000 temples, was not involved in the meeting but said the demolition presented a serious problem.

"It's an immense problem where we have to work together with all the organisations and temples and negotiate with different states over the land issues," Hindu Sangam's president A Vaithilingam told AFP.

Malaysia's 26 million people are roughly 60 percent Muslim Malay, with Indians making up eight percent of the population and ethnic Chinese most of the remainder.

Religious minorities often complain their rights are overlooked in favour of the majority Muslims.