Urimai criticises DBKL for selling Hindu temple site to Jakel

Summary

• United for the Rights of Malaysians Party president P Ramasamy tells DBKL not to wash their hands off from the controversy surrounding a piece of land that houses a Hindu temple.

• He criticises the city hall for selling the land plot to a private company after ordering the temple to relocate to the site.

• Ramasamy also slams Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim for only sending his Indian minister and MPs to handle the issue.

United for the Rights of Malaysians Party (Urimai) president P Ramasamy has slammed the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) for selling off a piece of land near Jalan Masjid India after ordering a Hindu temple to relocate to the site.

This followed a controversy sparked by the land issue as its new owner Jakel Group wants to build a mosque at the plot.

In a statement today, Ramasamy said DBKL cannot wash its hands off the controversy surrounding the land issue by framing it as a private matter.

According to him, DBKL had directed the Dewi Sri Pathrakaliamman Temple to relocate to its present site at Jalan Munshi Abdullah, off Jalan Masjid India in 2008.

He claimed that DBKL had given the temple committee the impression that the new site would be its permanent location but later sold it to a private company in 2014.

READ MORE: KINIGUIDE | Exploring temple crisis in the heart of KL

"DBKL’s historical involvement in the temple’s relocation and its subsequent sale of the land to Jakel proves that it cannot simply absolve itself of responsibility.

"Kuala Lumpur mayor Maimunah Mohd Sharif has attempted to mediate the issue by presenting DBKL and the government as neutral parties.

"However, nothing could be further from the truth.

"While she may be new to her role, she must acknowledge DBKL’s historical role in the temple’s forced relocation and its failure to secure the temple’s permanence," Ramasamy said.

Adding further, he said the temple should have been granted a heritage status due to its age which predates the country's independence instead of being left vulnerable.

‘PM can end this injustice’

Ramasamy criticised the plan to relocate the temple again, questioning what guarantee it would have that the next location would be its permanent site.

He then took a jab at Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim for allegedly being silent on the issue and only "dispatched" an Indian minister and several MPs to resolve the issue.

"He frequently speaks out on the Palestinian cause yet remains silent on the plight of Malaysians struggling to protect their places of worship.

"If Anwar is the great leader he claims to be, he could end this injustice with a single stroke of the pen.

"Instead of dispatching his Indian lieutenants to broker an unfair compromise, he should take decisive action to protect the temple’s rightful place," Ramasamy said.

What is DBKL doing?

Echoing Ramasamy’s sentiments, Malaysian Indian People’s Party (MIPP) information chief Suthan Mookaiah questioned why DBKL allowed the matter to escalate.

For starters, he asked the city hall why the temple was not gazetted as a heritage site but instead, sold off to a private company.

“And who is the officer who approved the development order despite knowing the presence of a historical temple there?” he asked via Tiktok.

Suthan also questioned the need to build another structure on the site despite DBKL having two other empty lots nearby.

The opposition leader then reminded Putrajaya that if the temple gets demolished, the Indian community will see it as an act of betrayal.

“This is personal to us. When a temple gets destroyed, it’s not just bricks and cement that are lost.

“It is our identity, our community and our sense of belonging that is being shattered,” Suthan remarked.

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