Well, a temple being demolished seldom makes main news especially on TV. The last time that happened was in Padang Jawa, and we know what that led to. This time, the tables are turned, with MIC as accusers and the Pakatan Rakyat led state goverment on the defensive, being accused of condoning temple demolishment. Add to this statement from MP Zuraida, and you get accusations and counter-accusations. The story of the temple being demolished is covered here and here. In a nutshell:

1. Maha Kaliamman temple in Ampang demolished on 9th September, supposedly by officers from MPAJ, the local council.
2. An state EXCO, Ronnie Liu, told the next day that it was not ordered by the state government nor were they informed about it. The MPAJ president is overseas, so he is also in the dark.
3. MIC, Samy Vellu gets to hear about this two weeks after the demolishment, and one if its state youth leaders, make a police report. MIC accuses the state goverment of not being able to keep its promise.
4. Another EXCO, Xavier Jayakumar angers the community by saying that its a “shrine not a temple” and saying that its not registered. However, he clarified that no orders came from state government for demolishing the temple.
5. MP for Ampang, Zuraida says MIC trying to politicise the issue and says that it was demolished for renovation. This is in conflict with earlier statement by Xavier.
6. Temple committee chairman says not sure who reported the temple causing it to be demolished.

Let’s continue with what happened after those postings.

MIC quickly highlights the confusing statements by PKR leaders, condemning them as trying to mislead and confuse the community:

In a statement today, he said the conflicting claims indicated that the Selangor government was diverting public attention away from the fact that the temple was demolished by state authorities.

“We want the state government to come clean on the matter and expose who had authorised the demolition of the temple,” Samy said, adding that the outcome of any investigation ought to be made public.

NST reported that MIC wants the state government to make public the report of the temple demolishment since there are conflicting statements by the two leaders.

MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu said the conflicting statements showed that the state government had deceived the people over who was responsible for the demolition of the Sri Mahakaliamman temple on Sept 9.

“We want the state government to come clean on the matter and expose who had authorised the temple’s demolition,” he said in a statement.

Ampang MP Zuraida Kamaruddin had said that the temple’s committee members had demolished the temple for renovation work, while Selangor’s health, estate workers and caring government committee chairman Dr Xavier A. Jayakumar said it was the work of Ampang Jaya Municipal Council (MPAJ) enforcement officers.

“Who is telling the truth now? We demand an explanation,” Samy Vellu said.

MP Zuraida later issued another statement on the 28th saying that her initial one was misquoted. She was referring to her statement that the temple was demolished for renovation purposes. According to her, Murugiah, the temple chairman was in the process of doing minor renovation when the temple was demolished by MPAJ workers.

A part of her first statement is reproduced below:

 Hakikatnya, kuil tersebut telah dirobohkan pada 10 September untuk kerja pengubahsuaian bangunan dan dokumentasi. Pada 11 September, Ahli Majlis MPAJ En. Soorianarayanan dan En. Supiramany tampil untuk berbincang bersama Timbalan Yang di Pertua MPAJ untuk menyelesaikan isu prosedur pengurusan kuil tersebut. Kini pihak pengurusan kuil masih menunggu laporan dari pihak Majlis Perbandaran.

Menurut Pengerusi kuil En. Murugiah, masalah kuil ini iaitu tanpa dokumentasi sudah berlanjutan hampir 19 tahun, malah pernah dirobohkan sebanyak dua kali di bawah pentadbiran Barisan Nasional. Barisan Nasional telah membiarkan masalah kuil tersebut.

I’m not sure who wrote it, but its pretty clear that is says the the temple was demolished on 10th September for renovation work and documentatio.

Xavier Jayakumar later visited the temple and said that temple committee is equally at fault. He was also recorded on camera as saying that he talked to Zuraida and she had clarified that her earlier statement was misused.

The Sri Maha Kaliamman temple committee must share equal responsibility for the demolition of the temple, Selangor state executive councillor Dr A. Xavier Jayakumarare said.

Xavier said the temple was built on forest reserve land and the Ampang Jaya Municipal Council was right to take action.

He said, however, the council should have sought permission from the state government before demolishing the temple.

“The state government was not informed of this matter.

“According to our guidelines, local authorities must seek permission from the state executive council before demolishing any place of worship,” Xavier said after visiting the temple site at Kampung Tasik, Ampang yesterday.
He said the council had been directed to submit a report on the demolition but declined to say if disciplinary action would be taken against anyone.

Xavier said the temple committee chairman, S. Murugiah, had also been advised to write to the state government for approval before rebuilding the structure.

He also described the demolition as a small issue.

“This is a small issue compared with other more serious problems affecting the Indian community. Why don’t we look at the bigger picture?”

Ampang member of parliament Zuraida Kamaruddin has denied that she had said “temple committee workers had demolished the temple to carry out renovation works”.

Her political secretary, who was at the site yesterday, said Zuraida was “misquoted” by several newspapers on Saturday.

I still remember my friend telling that “small things will become big things if not handled”. It is wrong of Xavier to brush aside this as a small problem, because this incident is a symptom of disobedience by officers. This problem can easily manifest in other areas. Secondly, this incident is about religion. Anything to do with race and religion is never a small issue.

At the site also was MHS representative, who said that state government or local council must approach MHS before demolishing any temples. He said MHS will find a solution for these sort of problems. This incident can be avoided if MHS was involved.

its quite clear that MPAJ is involved. The next steps are clear – get a report out, investigate who/where/why it happened. Mete out punishment to the guilty party. Anything less than that means Pakatan Rakyat is also like BN. All talk, no action.