The Cabinet on Wednesday should issue a directive for a total halt to all temple demolitions in the country and set up a Royal Commission of Inquiry into Tuesday’s Kampung Rimba Jaya Sri Maha Mariaman Temple demolition in Shah Alam and to draw up national guidelines for all future demolitions to ensure they do not trample on religious and cultural sensitivities.
All temple demolitions should stop until the Royal Commission of Inquiry has come out with its report and recommendations for national guidelines for all future demolitions of places of worship which take fully into account the Merdeka social contract 50 years ago which assured all religions a rightful place in the country, the first Rukunegara principle of “Belief in God” as well as the religious and cultural sensitivities of a multi-religious and multi-racial Malaysia.
What happened at Kampung Rimba Jaya on Tuesday, where brute and naked force was displayed by the Shah Alam City Hall (MBSA) enforcement authorities in utter disregard of proper procedures, religious and cultural sensitivities in the demolition of the 40-year-old Sri Maha Mariaman Temple, resulting in many injured, 20 people including four lawyers arrested, has caused great damage to Malaysian nation-building and is most shameful especially in a year when the country is celebrating 50 years of independent nationhood.
The highhanded and reckless manner in which the Sri Maha Mariaman Temple was demolished had raised the question, not only in Malaysia but internationally, whether Malaysia really respects the fundamental and constitutional rights of Malaysians to “freedom of religion” as enshrined in Article 11 of the Federal Constitution.
It is no exaggeration to say that to a significant section of the Malaysian population, the 50th Merdeka anniversary celebrations have been rendered meaningless by such arbitrary actions by those in authority which are completely contemptuous of the legitimate rights and sensitivities of different communities and religions in the country.
This is why SUHAKAM, the Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikkhism and Taoism (MCCBCHST), Malaysia Hindu Sangam and various organizations including political parties had deplored and condemned the MBSA demolition actions.
This was also why DAP MP for Ipoh Barat and National Vice Chairman M. Kulasegaran had sought to have an emergency debate in Parliament on the temple demolition on Thursday but his motion was rejected by the Deputy Speaker, Datuk Lim Si Cheng on completely unacceptable grounds.
The Cabinet can go a long way to make amends for the great harm done to Malaysian nation-building and the country’s reputation of respect for all religions by Tuesday’s temple demolition by issuing a directive on Wednesday for an immediate halt to all demolitions of temples and places of worship, as well as establishing a Royal Commission of Inquiry tasked with two terms of reference:
- To inquire into Tuesday’s high-handed demolition of the Sri Maha Mariaman temple in Kampung Rimba Jaya near Shah Alam and to identify the state and local authority officials responsible for abuses and excesses of power; and
- To draw up national guidelines for all future demolitions of places of worship which do not trample on religious and cultural sensitivities by taking fully into account the fundamental right of “freedom of religion” assured to all Malaysians.
If the Cabinet on Wednesday can issue such a directive and set up such a Royal Commission of Inquiry, it will be the best Deepavali gift of the Malaysian government.
Let all Cabinet Ministers, whether MIC, MCA, Gerakan, UMNO or from the Sabah and Sarawak Barisan Nasional parties, prove that they can act in unison in the larger Malaysian interest on the occasion of the nation’s 50th Merdeka anniversary to lay a firm basis for a plural nation by ending all high-handed demolitions of temples and places of worship which trample on religious and cultural sensitivities, and in so doing, making a magnificent Deepavali present not only to Malaysian Hindus but to all Malaysians as well.