Malaysia, April 21, 200
Roop Sharma
NRIs were crying, begged them to stop and saying how could the
government do this. The Malaimel Sri Selva Kaliamman Temple was
reduced to rubble after Kuala Lumpur's city hall sent in bulldozers,
NRI said.
They forced to stop our prayers and (rituals) halfway as they
proceeded to tear down the temple. In a complaint to police the
temple's vice president, Subramaniam Ragappan, said about 300
devotees were praying Tuesday when the machines arrived. A copy
of a letter from city hall to a local lawmaker, who had asked
for the temple to be left intact, said the demolition was going
ahead to make way for a building project.
“Not only did they destroy the statues, they also dug a
hole in the ground and buried them. This action is deplorable
and insulting to the Hindu faith,” NRI added.
Manoharan said his client and other devotees have field several
police reports on the incident.
The temple administrators are demanding for a new plot of land
to erect the temple and wanted DBKL to pay a compensation of RM150,000
for the loss incurred in the demolition exercise, which also purportedly
saw jewelry belonging to the temple going missing.
