Temple devotees hold protest

KUALA LUMPUR: In an attempt to save the 121-year-old Seafield Maha Mariamman Devasthanam temple in Subang Jaya from demolition, some 100 devotees staged a peaceful protest in front of the Parliament building, yesterday.

Led by temple chairman Nagaraju Meganathan and advisor L. Sivasubramaniam, they submitted a memorandum to the Prime Minister opposing the move.

Sivasubramaniam said that the Barisan Nasional-led Selangor government in 1987 had declared that the temple land would be retained.

“However, the land was not gazetted and confusion to determine the temple lot arose.

“In 2000, the problem was solved, but Sime Darby — the land developer at that time — decided to pursue the matter in court.”

He said that the real problem started when the Pakatan Rakyat-led Selangor government took over the state. “The land that the temple was on was sold to a third party, MCT Development Sdn Bhd.

“When we asked the state government what was happening, we were told that the temple will be relocated to Putra Heights. Despite our protest, work to build the temporary temple went on; this, while the court case was ongoing. So, where are our rights?”

Nagaraju said that they wanted the temple to remain at the current site.

“This is our heritage. The temple is more than a hundred years old. Why would someone demolish our heritage?”

After protesting for half an hour under strict police supervision, Member of Parliament for Hulu Selangor P. Kamalanathan was summoned to receive the memorandum.

“I am receiving the memorandum on behalf of all the MPs and I will submit it to the Prime Minister’s office today. The devotees have already submitted a copy of the memorandum to MIC president Datuk G. Palanivel.

“The state government should not have treated the issue like this. One of their promises during the 12th general election was they wouldn’t demolish any temples but they continue to do it. We need to help these people, not turn them away.”

The protestors dispersed at about 11.30am.