In City Hall action on Hindu temple, DAP sees BN disdain for minorities: KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 7 — The Barisan Nasional (BN) has shown it has no regard for non-Islamic faiths and cultures, the DAP said today as it denounced the partial demolition of a century-old Hindu temple recently by Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL). The opposition party hit out at the ruling coalition, branding it “insensitive and high-handed” after several deities were reported to be partly damaged during renovation works by the local authority carried out in the temple’s vicinity to broaden the public walkway there. “Unfortunately, DBKL’s sacrilegious actions against a place of religious worship that has served the community for more than a century merely reflects the BN government’s utter disregard for other faiths and cultures,” DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said in a statement. He noted that the incident came on the back of a series of other recent events after Election 2013 against multiculutral Malaysia’s minority races and religions, which he said signalled growing tensions in the country and which he blamed on the 13-party BN coalition, anchored by its Malay-oriented party, Umno. “Not only were the Chinese unfairly blamed for BN’s unprecedented loss of the popular vote in the recent 13th General Election, the recent government-funded movie ‘Tanda Putera’ has also distorted historical facts in an attempt to pin blame on the Chinese for instigating the May 13 racial riots,” Lim cited, to support his claim. Umno-owned Malay daily Utusan Malaysia sparked a national uproar with its incendiary headline last May questioning “Apa lagi Cina mahu? (What more do the Chinese want?)” in the wake of the divisive May 5 polls that saw townspeople voting for the three-party Pakatan Rakyat opposition pact while the rural electorate, which is dominantly Malay, backed the ruling BN. The DAP, which is largely Chinese, also claims it had been vilified in the RM4.8 million public-funded film directed by horror maestro Datin Paduka Shuhaimi Baba, and has repeatedly blamed it on BN propaganda. “As ethnic and religious minorities face increasing persecution, Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Najib’s 1Malaysia promise has all but dissipated,” added Lim, referring to the slogan the sixth PM had mooted shortly after taking office in 2009 to unify the nation. The twin issues of race and religious are inseparable issues in Malaysia, where being Malay is constitutionally defined to also include being Muslim. In recent years, racial and religious issues have polarised the country of 28 million people into a Malay-Muslim camp, and non-Malays and non-Muslims on the other side. The latest religious spat centres on DBKL’s controversial move to tear down part of a 101-year-old Hindu temple on Jalan P. Ramlee here for infrastructure work on a 31-storey office building to be built by Menara Hap Seng Sdn Bhd. Nine people were arrested on September 1 during a scuffle between protesters and DBKL officers on duty to move the statues of deities, including MIC Youth chief T. Mohan. dlvr.it/3wZDNK
Posted on: Sat, 07 Sep 2013 06:20:11 +0000