And Now For Something Completely Different...

Lately it feels like I have blogged about, and done nothing online that wasn't related to, the demolitions of temples in Malaysia.

So here, a respite.

I found this picture of me, taken back in 2002, on my friend Danny Lim's website. It was taken at a reading at the National Art Gallery, Kuala Lumpur. I had just turned 17, and if I remember correctly it was only the 2nd or 3rd time I had performed my poetry for a public audience. This was also the only reading of mine that I ever invited both my parents to, and for that reason I think I remember which poems I read -- I had to choose them so carefully.

Shah Rukh Khan was shooting a film just outside the gallery that night. My sister (then age 12) went to see, and was disappointed that her request for an autograph was declined, albeit politely, because he was too exhausted. (Funny how people love retelling their Shah Rukh encounters. Someone else I know who once turned around in an elevator here in KL and discovered that the star shared the enclosed space with him can't get enough of recounting that story.)



And here, my friend Lara thinks she's really good with Windows' Paint. (Okay, okay, there's a passing resemblance. Grumblegrumble).

Foreign Backing Against Temple Demolition

Update: Zafar Anjum has informed me that after sending my letter to PM Manmohan Singh to the Singaporean newspaper Today, the publication has since begun to cover the issue.

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From Malaysiakini
Foreign backing against temple demolition
Andrew Ong Jun 24, 06 3:28pm


At least three groups overseas have attempted to convey their concern to the Malaysian government about the spate of Hindu temple demolitions of late.

The Agni Foundation, representing the Dutch Hindu Community, held a meeting on May 19 with Malaysia's Ambassador to Holland Noor Farida Ariffin to discuss the issue.

In a report made available to malaysiakini, the foundation said that Noor Farida dismissed claims that the Malaysian government ignored the sensitivities of the Hindu community by demolishing the Sri Kaliamman temple in Kuala Lumpur on April 20.

Furthermore, the ambassador was also believed to have said in the meeting that Kuala Lumpur City Hall's actions were condoned by the Malaysia Hindu Sangam and that Hindus MPs did not voice their protest about the matter.

The report added that the ambassador promised to provide the foundation the 'true facts' of the matter.

"This reaction of the embassy was predictable," summed up the report.

Report to UN

Meanwhile, the Federation of Human Rights Organisations of India (FHROI) submitted a protest letter on the matter to the High Commissioner of Malaysia in New Dehli on June 2.

The letter condemned the demolition of the Sri Kaliamman temple as well as the intended demolition of the Sri Maha Mariamman in Senawang, Negeri Sembilan. Sharma also quoted Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
and Article 27 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights - both provisions to an individual's right to freedom of religion.

"The Hindus in Malaysia have been dwelling there for centuries, living in a most peaceful and harmonious manner, yet the Malaysian government has chosen to deny them the minimum human rights guaranteed by the United Nations. Such
action is retrograde and barbarian," said Sharma.

Apart from requesting Malaysia to desist from any such action on Hindu temples, failing which they will lodge a complaint with the Human Rights Committee of the United Nations.

Write to AG

Regional human rights watchdog the Asian Human Rights Commission has launched a write-in campaign to the Malaysian Attorney-General as an urgent appeal over the issue.

"As the person responsible for instituting criminal proceedings against any subject who has committed a crime, the Attorney-General must act immediately and bring justice to those who have ordered and those who carried out the destruction of Hindu temples," said the commission on its website.

The commission blasted the Malaysian government over the demolition of the Sri Muniswara Alayam temple in Setapak, Kuala Lumpur which involved the use of force on devotees of the temple.

"Simple government intervention would have prevented this from occurring, but this was not done. Evidently, the government failed to intervene in order to aid a private developer pursuing commercial interest," it said.

The 60-year-old Muniswara temple near Jalan Ayer Madu in Setapak, northeast of Kuala Lumpur, was located on the path of the soon-to-be-completed Damansara Ulu Kelang Expressway (Duke).

"Furthermore, and of greater significance, the government failed to intervene in order to belittle the Hindu worshippers who used the temple, as alternative arrangements have been made in similar circumstances where Muslim followers were involved," it added.

Kuala Lumpur is set to see a temporary respite from demolitions as a MIC-backed committee will buy time to negotiate terms of temple relocation and demolishment with the respective stakeholders.

Opponents to the plan said that a permanent solution to the problem ought to be sought and that the threat of more temple demolition looms in other states.

A internet search by malaysiakini showed that this controversial issue has drawn the attention of the press in many parts of the world.

Updates: Temple Demolitions

Have had a very messy week, personally, so apologies for the silence after the post below (same goes for any emails as yet unreplied to).

Anyway, here are some updates on the issue of temple demolitions in Malaysia.

1. My email to manmohan@sansad.nic.in has bounced back. :(
2. Several people have asked me whether I actually believe that PM Singh will take any positive action. Well, to me, whether or not he actually pursues the matter on the basis of my letter alone is not just unlikely, but also less important than the fact that the exposure the letter receives on the web and elsewhere could -- and has, I think -- galvanized enough interest in the issue that others too may begin to speak out against it.
3. I have been told by Kaaveeta Kaul, who forwarded it to them, that the Lucknow Times is interested in the letter. Don't know whether any other publications have picked it up. But the discussion and interest generated in the blogosphere has been quite amazing (thank you again).
4. Some recent articles:

From Malaysiakini
Temple issue: Royal intervention sought
Selvam Arjunan Jun 21, 06 3:34pm

Politicians, activists, temple caretakers and devotees gathered outside Istana Negara in Kuala Lumpur today to seek the King's intervention into the demolishment of Hindu temples.

At the palace's main gates, the group unfurled a banner that read 'King, save the Hindu temples in Malaysia' under the watchful eyes of the palace security personnel and police officers.

A nine-point memorandum was also submitted to a palace official on the matter.

The group claimed that it had turned to the King because complaints to Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) and the Kuala Lumpur City Hall were not acted upon.

In the memorandum, the group urged the King to issue a directive to local councils to stop demolishing Hindu temples.

All existing temples and Hindu places of worship should be gazetted as 'temple reserve', read the memorandum.

In the event a temple or a shrine is to be removed to pave the way for development, there must be immediate relocation and compensation paid by the federal government, it added.

'Only in Malaysia'

Earlier, Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) Kota Raja information chief Razak Ismail and the party's Federal Territory information chief Omar Tan Abdullah became upset with a palace official.

The official, who identified himself only as Guli, said he was there to receive the memorandum on behalf of the King's personal secretary.

"This is a national issue, so we want to submit this (memorandum) to a higher official, not to a chief clerk or secretary," said a visibly dissatisfied Razak.

However, he later relented and submitted the memorandum to the official.

"Please make sure the King receives this memorandum. This is a serious national issue," he told the official.

Speaking to reporters later, PKR deputy Youth chief S Manickavasagam said the demolishment of temples only happens in Malaysia.

"This is not happening anywhere in the world besides Malaysia. They demolish the temples, smash the deities and bury the statues," he said, while displaying photographs of such incidents.

According to him, non-governmental organisations in other countries are also aware of this and will raise the matter with the United Nations.

Manickavasagam claimed that almost 30 temples were demolished in Malaysia this year.

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From Malaysiakini
Temples: DBKL pledges to listen first
Andrew Ong Jun 20, 06 9:25pm [extract]

Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) has undertaken to hear the views of a newly established five-member committee comprising of representatives from Hindu bodies before it proceeds with any future Hindu temple demolition in the city.

Led by Malaysian Hindu Sangam president A Vaithilingam, the committee would investigate on a case-by-case basis Hindu temples ordered to be relocated or demolished by DBKL.

The new committee would liaise with the affected Hindu temples, developers and land owners before forwarding their recommendations to DBKL.

"Before, DBKL would just give such temples notice before demolishing them. But now they have come to an understanding that they would consult us first to solve the problem as amicably as possible," said Vaithilingam when contacted today.
[...]

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From Hindustan Times
Temple demolitions spark racial tensions in Malaysia
Agence France-Presse Kuala Lumpur, June 20, 2006

The destruction of Hindu temples by authorities in multicultural Malaysia is inflaming religious tensions in a country which has long struggled to
maintain ethnic harmony.

Rights groups and politicians say that anger is growing among the country's minority Hindu community as temples, many of historic value, are bulldozed at the rate of at least one every few weeks to make way for new developments.

Hindu groups have appealed to Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to halt the destruction and respect the rights of religious minorities in mainly-Muslim Malaysia, but concern is growing the situation will become volatile.

"At the moment, devotees are pleading and crying, but eventually they will not plead and cry any more," said Waytha Moorthy, the chairman of the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf), which lobbies on behalf of affected temple groups.

"We are worried if people get emotional about it, they will resort to other means. They have come to us for help, but eventually we will also fail unless the government intervenes," he said.

Malaysia's 26 million people are roughly 60 per cent Muslim Malay, with mostly Hindu Indians making up eight per cent of the population and ethnic Chinese most of the remainder.

The country has thousands of Hindu temples and shrines, many built on private or plantation land by Indian migrant labourers before the country gained independence in 1957.

The land has since been acquired by local councils or state authorities, who argue the temples are illegal buildings and have been knocking them down.

Hindu groups say the nationwide destruction of temples has been going on for years, but that demolitions in the capital Kuala Lumpur and the states of Selangor and Negeri Sembilan have accelerated lately.

Kuala Lumpur City Hall, under fire for bulldozing temples with police assistance, said it had demolished three since February this year to make way for road projects and a low-cost housing development.

Another three are due to be demolished over the next few months but in consultation with Hindu groups over how it should take place, said city hall's deputy director-general, Mohamad Amin Abdul Aziz.

"The land belongs to the government and the government has to build roads, schools and bridges," Mohamad Amin told the agency.

"We are a liberal society and I respect all religions. I want them to have a temple of their own, but they should go through the proper channels," he said, adding groups had to build on land gazetted for temples or buy land privately.

But Hindu groups argue authorities should permanently relocate the temples, some of which are more than 100 years old, and are used by devotees from lower income groups who cannot afford to buy land.

In a sign of growing frustration, some 50 Hindus including women and children held a rare protest in front of City Hall late last month to complain their religious rights were being trampled.

TM Ramachandran, the Southeast Asia organiser for Hindu Sevai Sangam, a group that counsels young people, said Hindus were being "suppressed" and left little room to negotiate over temple relocations.

"More than being angry, we are very frustrated because we are also citizens of this country," said Ramachandran.

"We have been very, very tolerant for so many years with these things happening. They've really pushed us to the wall," he said.

The unrest over the demolitions follows the controversial Muslim burial in December of an ethnic Indian mountaineering hero, M Moorthy, over the protests of his Hindu wife who said he had never converted to Islam.

The incident raised ethnic tensions and accusations from Malaysia's religious minorities that their rights were being undermined by what they say is growing Islamic conservatism.

Human rights group Aliran has also warned the demolitions could ramp up religious and racial tensions.

After the Moorthy case, "such demolitions could also reinforce the feeling among members of cultural minorities that their democratic and religious space is slowly and unjustly being squeezed", it said in a statement.

S. Paranjothy, the deputy chief of the youth arm of the Gerakan party which is a member of Malaysia's ruling coalition, said he feared tensions over the demolitions would spill over into a repeat of previous communal violence.

The so-called 1978 Kerling incident saw Hindu devotees killing a group of five conservative Muslims who were caught desecrating a temple.

"You are pushing people and some of them may be fearful, but others may not tolerate this," he said.

"If they carry on like this, there will be a repeat of this. The other time it was only five that died, but the next time 50 or 100 may die. You never know, anything can happen."

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From Bernama
Temple Demolitions Only After Consultations With City Hall
June 20, 2006 18:59 PM

KUALA LUMPUR, June 20 (Bernama) -- Relocation of Hindu temples in Kuala Lumpur due to redevelopment will only take place after a five-member committee set up through the effort of MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu is consulted by Kuala Lumpur City Hall.

The five-member committee, to be headed by Malaysia Hindu Sangam president Datuk A. Vaithilingam with the other members made up of representatives of other Hindu bodies, will discuss current and future temple relocations with City Hall.

Samy Vellu said Kuala Lumpur Datuk Bandar Datuk Ruslin Hassan had also proposed to set up a special unit in City Hall to handle all matters relating to temple relocations or demolitions.

"Previously, there was no such unit but now the mayor has given the assurance that a special unit will be set up and I thank him," Samy Vellu, who is also Works Minister, told reporters after a 90-minute discussion among City Hall, Malaysia Hindu Sangam and other Indian-based organisations at his ministry, here.

He said City Hall had agreed to refer to the committee any notices for temples to be relocated or demolished in the federal territory.

"The committee will go to the ground and try to solve the problem first. If they are unable to do so, then it will be brought to my attention or the mayor."

Samy Vellu said it was also proposed that alternative sites be provided for the temples by the developers and ample time given before they would be demolished.

He said most of the problems occurred when the temples started to build extensions or wanted to rebuild without getting the approval of City Hall.

He also disclosed that discussions would be held to provide an alternative site for a temple which had to give way for the Damansara-Hulu Kelang Expressway in Setapak.

"We will also try to speak to the developer to give some sort of compensation for the rebuilding of the temple," Samy Vellu said.

On the problems faced by temples in other states, Samy Vellu said these would be handled by the state executive councillors from the MIC.

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5. Sharon has found me the picture of S.Sarimuthu that moved me so much, but I am reluctant to post it up or even link it because that would be exploitative, or at the very least, voyeuristic.



All previous posts on temple demolitions: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6.


Please read my open letter to PM Manmohan Singh, if you haven't already, here.

AN OPEN LETTER TO PM MANMOHAN SINGH

When I wrote this letter and sent it out on the 13th, I did so because I felt that there was no way that I could NOT write this letter. I felt that there was no way in which I could stifle myself. I felt as though I had hit some kind of breaking point.

And the reason for it was no longer the articles on temple demolitions that I was reading via alternative news media and mailing lists, which hitherto despite deeply angering me had also rendered me deeply lost for words. No, the reason why I could not not write this letter was something, superficially, unconnected.

It was a newpaper picture of a retired gardener, S. Sarimuthu, whose only daughter had died on June 11th as a result of viral eningoencephalitis and secondary pneumonia contracted while at National Service camp. In this picture of him, which I can't find online, he looks profoundly forlorn. He looks like his heart had been wrenched out of his body, pounded to a pulp, and then poured back inside.

This picture made me cry and cry and cry, and then write this letter. And cry even more the morning after I did, as I explained to someone what made me do it. The family wasn't Hindu. The girl wasn't the victim of genocidal hate-mongering. But I saw that picture and in my mind I saw that father at hospitals, at home -- I saw the way the nurses looked at him, the way the doctors spoke to him, the way hospital authorities dismissed him as she slipped into a coma. I saw him throughout his life, I saw the way this fucking state in one way or another has taken away even this, even her. I saw the colour of his skin and the sheer, unmitigated loss in his eyes, the way his loss and the loss of these temples were entwined, and I could not not write this letter.

These temple demolitions are ethnic issues first, then religious ones. To truly understand the peculiar dynamics of this, you need to have lived here. You need to have read the paragraph above and implicitly understood what I mean. But I realize you may never have experienced minority reality in Malaysia, and I'm struggling as to how to better paint you a picture of it, a picture that will testify to the experience of millions. So before you accuse me of being dramatic, give me the benefit of the doubt.

This letter has been sent via email to the editors of several Indian publications. If you can think of places where it should or could also be published, or if you see it (edited or otherwise) in any magazine or newspaper (not having access to hard copies means I can't check for its appearance), please drop me an email. Sharanya DOT Manivannan AT gmail.com . Please don't circulate the entire post via email, forwards being what they are, but feel free to link to this post.

Am sticky-posting it for some time. New posts will appear below this.

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An Open Letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Dear Dr. Singh,

I write this to you not only as a citizen appealing to the leader of her nation, but as a non-resident Indian outraged and frightened by the atrocities committed against her heritage and religion – and the heritage or religion of millions of others – in the nation of her residence.

The past few months have brought with them a rash of demolitions of Hindu temples in Malaysia. By "rash", I mean an indeterminate but sizable number. By "rash", I indicate a deliberate official concealing of the actual figure.

The official excuses for these run along the lines of clearing areas for highway development and the lack of proper licences. But the sheer enthusiasm by which these demolitions are carried out – demonstrated by their rapidly increasing number and frequency as well as the unnecessary measures often undertaken, such as the torching of the temple structure and the defacement of statues of deities within – negates them. A suspiciously mute media further contradicts such pretexts.

Most of these attacks have occurred by dawn, literally ambushing worshippers within. At least one attack – on the 60-year old Sri Balamuniswarar Alayam in Setapak on June 8 2006 – resulted in the arrests of people who attempted to stop the demolition. This same attack resulted in injuries for some of the arrested – injuries which they were later forced to confess in writing as having been self-inflicted. A priest in that temple suffered a heart attack from the sight of it being desecrated.

This is the story of only one temple.

I cannot tell you how many temples, or stories, there are, because no one knows the real number. No one, perhaps, but the authorities carrying out what is clearly a secret, sinister agenda.

I ask you this: what excuse do you give us for your silence?

The Government of India has thus far taken no official stand on the issue. This is not for lack of knowing. Although the available information about these demolitions remains little, almost all the non-Internet media that has picked up on the situation has been from India. These are state-sanctioned demolishings, not the work of small factions of zealots. The Government of India has a responsibility, particularly because of its relationship with the Government of Malaysia, to respond.

When the Taliban destroyed the Bamiyan Buddhas in 2001, the Indian government, along with academics and former state officials, responded with the outrage demanded of the situation.

Some months back, the Government of India sent an official criticism to the Government of Denmark regarding the publication in a Danish newspaper of cartoons insulting the Prophet Muhammad, resulting in the cancellation of Danish PM Anders Fogh Rasmussen's official visit to India at that time.

Denmark and India have a strong history of bilateral relations, from Prime Ministerial visits to Copenhagen in 1957, 1983 and 2002 to total, direct Danish investment inflows to India since 1981 having reached approximately US$148 million at the end of September 2005 (according to the website of the Indian embassy in Denmark).

Malaysia and India, too, have had many successful bilateral exchanges over the decades. By an interesting coincidence, the
manufacturing-based foreign direct investment from India to Malaysia now also amounts to US$148 million (according to Malaysia's Deputy Prime Minister Dato' Mohd Najib Tun Abdul Razak at an India-Malaysia CEO forum in Mumbai on June 9 2006).

As simplistic as it sounds, it's almost as if all those millions of US dollars from Denmark – a country whose religious insensitivity India officially condemned – were poured straight into Malaysia – a country whose religious despotism India is curiously, confoundingly silent on.

The rights of ethnic Indians and other minorities in this country are crumbling, like our temples, as I write this.

2.05 million people of Indian descent may be a tiny number, when compared against the 1 billion and counting whom you, as prime minister, are officially responsible for.

But I ask you this: when temples that stood for over a century are destroyed, what really dies? Not stone and statues. Not bells and prayers. Not – thankfully and thus far – people. You see, what frightens me is not the loss of these temples themselves, though architecturally speaking, that too is often a disappointment. What frightens me is what these temples are taken to represent, and by extension, what their demolitions therefore represent.

As I write this, I am grasping in the dark as to the actual number of temples that have been demolished, torched or otherwise desecrated in the past six months alone. Numbers I have read range anywhere from 10 to 20. Why are these numbers so nebulous? If the authorities carrying out these attacks are doing so with fully defendable reasons, why the secrecy? Why the media blackout, through which only wavering, surreptitious glimpses insinuate at a growing crisis?

I write to you because I feel as though the country in which I live, and in which 8% of the population trace their roots back to India, is teetering on the brink of religious and ethnic calamity. I write to you in an atmosphere darkened by the shadow of the pre-genocidal.

I write to you because I am afraid.



Yours sincerely,


Sharanya Manivannan
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
June 13 2006



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All previous posts on temple demolitions: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6.

Update: Thank you, Sepia Mutiny, for picking this up.

Update 17/6: Thanks also to everyone who wrote to me privately, mostly to let me know that they had sent my letter to some media outlet or another, or had linked me somewhere. One such person was Vikrant Nath, who sent me PM Manmohan Singh's email address -- I have now emailed him directly.

Laksmi Pamuntjak

The stunning Laksmi Pamuntjak was at Silverfish Books last Saturday, and read from her art-inspired prose collection, The Diary of R.S., and joined some of us later downstairs at Devi's Corner (where this pic was taken).

Laksmi is a Singapore-based Indonesian writer, food critic, translator, classical pianist and co-founder of a bookshop. I'm reading her book of poems, Ellipses, now, and love its quiet sensuality. I think that she's easily one of the best women poets in this region, and I'm so glad to have discovered her work.

I was really annoyed by what Raman, Silverfish's proprietor, had to say in a mass email he sent out a few weeks before the event: "… Read more on the website and check out her photo!" (emboldening his). Would he have said that if an attractive male writer had been reading at his bookshop? Somehow I doubt it. And anyway, the photo on his website didn't do nearly enough justice to her (the ones on hers do, though).

I love what he's done to the shop though, converting his old office space and part of the old shop proper's space into a dimly-lit room especially for readings (dim light = bad photos, though, which is the only drawback). I've been going there for five years now, and whatever else, the readings there almost always turn out to be very, very special affairs.

She Sees White Horses

My horse was born the same year that I was born, only months before me. He was procured after a long search from Pakistan. They had to be sure: no purer horse existed.

In 1985, my grandfather held an Ashwamedha Yagna in Colombo. Without the whitest albino, the prayer could not succeed. So he found a pony as young as his new granddaughter. And so, although she was sometimes told he was her grandfather's horse, she was also sometimes told he was hers.

After the yagna, he stayed on in the temple in a stable just for him. Once, he was stolen. The last time I remember seeing him was around a decade ago. He was named Ashwaraja. King of the horses. They liked to say that, though already the colour of alabaster, an ivory star was still, somehow, visible on his forehead, if you cared to look closely enough.

Three weeks ago, my horse died. No one had remembered to tell me until today. And today also, I found this poem.

He had been sick for a few days. Twenty-one is old for a horse. He was cremated in the temple where he had lived all these years.

I cried although I rarely ever think of Ashwaraja; he had for years been to me like a single facet of a revolving mirror ball as it caught the light -- a moment of shining memory, but no more. To think of him as ailing, to think of the loneliness he must always have known, had somehow seemed unimaginable. I had trusted, in the naive way we hold on to the mythologies of our childhoods, that his place was sacred, immutable. That he could be anything other than immortal, anything other than the horse who would always be the same age as me, never seemed possible.

Rest in peace, my friend.

Temple Demolished, 5 Arrested, 1 Injured

And so the arrests begin.

I asked a friend of mine, who reads my blog every day, why he doesn't leave comments on the posts about temple demolishing, a subject which we continually discuss as each new incident further darkens our fears. "I feel outrage," he said. "But I have nothing to say."

This morning, a few hours before I read the news posted below, I realized that I, too, have had nothing to say. Or very little. I re-post these articles without detailed comment. Or once, with a poem. Once, with an expression of fear at the pre-genocidal undercurrent of it all. Or at the beginning, with a few words about how I will post things up from time to time but have nothing to say about them, and I hope you will understand why.

A few moments ago, there was someone on one of the mailing lists I subscribe to who asked, "Who cares if other countries don't value their heritage?"

What other countries?

Whose heritage?

I care because this is my heritage and in its own convoluted, hideous way, also my country.

Please read this article. Previous posts, Previous posts here, here, here, here and here provide a further chronology of these events.

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From Malaysiakini

Temple demolished, 5 arrested, 1 injured
Andrew Ong Jun 8, 06 7:55pm

Police today arrested five individuals who were attempting to stop the demolition of a temple to make way for a highway project leaving at least one person injured.

During the incident this morning, about 15 individuals comprising of Hindu devotees, temple caretakers and at least two lawyers stood in the path of a bulldozer and an excavator from destroying the temple.

However, a melee ensued when the police moved in to break up the human wall, which included women, and arrested five individuals.

Among them was P Velu, 30, who was sent to Hospital Kuala Lumpur this afternoon after bleeding profusely due to deep lacerations on his forehead sustained during a scuffle with police officers.

The 60-year-old Muniswara temple near Jalan Ayer Madu in Setapak, northeast of Kuala Lumpur, was located on the path of the soon-to-be-completed Damansara Ulu Kelang Expressway (Duke).

Temple priest P Sivalingam said that DBKL (Kuala Lumpur City Hall) had notified the temple committee of the intended demolition through several notices.

At least three unsuccessful negotiations were held with DBKL in the past three years.

The highway developers did offer the committee a 10-square-foot of land to build a new temple at a nearby site. This was rejected as the new temple would be about five times smaller than the existing building.

"Ten-square-foot is only big enough for a decent toilet. The temple needs to serve 800 devotees," said Sivalingam.

No court order

According to eyewitnesses of today's event, human rights lawyer P Uthayakumar tried to climb on an excavator, demanding for the operator to produce a court order for the demolition.

After he was ignored by the excavator operator, Uthayakumar was said to have lost his balance and fell to the ground. He was immediately arrested and hauled to the police van.

His lawyer brother Waythamoorthy accused the operator of deliberately moving his machine, causing Uthayakumar to fall. He said that his brother was almost run over by the excavator.

Three others detained at the Setapak police station this morning include Parti Keadilan Rakyat Youth deputy chief S Manickavasagam and two Hindu devotees, J Rishishakar and S Devan.

Tensions ran high at the police station when disgruntled Hindu devotees, who went to support the detainees, hurled calls of "penjenayah" (criminal) at Setapak police chief inspector S Balasubramaniam, who reacted calmly to the crowd.

Several police reports were lodged by those involved in the incident, including a few of the detainees.

Police: Wounds self-inflicted

Contacted later, Sentul district police chief Supt Rodzi Ismail said that the five were charged under Section 186 of the Penal Code for obstructing public servants from discharging their duties.

"We were asked to be there to ensure the safety of their officers," he said, adding that the police were not involved in the actual demolition exercise.

He said that all five would be released on bail after statements had been recorded and confirmed that Velu had been sent to the hospital for medical attention.

"According to my men, the wounds were self inflicted (with handcuffs)," said Rodzi, who was not at the scene this morning.

However, Manickavasagam claimed that a police officer had used a pair of handcuffs as knuckle-duster, causing lacerations on Velu's forehead. Several eyewitnesses have backed Manickavasagam's claim.

Today's incident comes hot on the heels of a heated Parliamentary roundtable on temple demolitions last Sunday attended by more than 160 Hindu temple caretakers.

Many of these temples, some more than a century old, were built by Indian labourers brought in by the British and are now being threatened by development projects.

Over the past three months, Hindu Rights Action Force has received 10 verified temple demolition complaints, mainly in the Klang Valley and Selangor.

Temples

HERE

From Malaysiakini.com

Pre-dawn strikes against temples decried
Claudia Theophilus Jun 7, 06 11:03am

"Stop desecrating and demolishing our temples. This has gone on long enough!" This cry of anger was greeted with applause at a parliamentary roundtable to discuss the spate of unbridled demolition of Hindu temples in several states.

Present in Parliament House on Sunday were more than 160 representatives of temple committees and groups from Perak, Selangor and Negeri Sembilan, many for the first time in their lives, to complain of past incidents and express
concerns that these may be repeated.

A common claim in almost all accounts was that local authority enforcement officers, assisted by police personnel, had employed high-handed tactics to demolish long-standing structures in the wee hours of the morning.

There were numerous allegations that enforcement teams of 10 to 300 personnel had destroyed or set fire to temples in Shah Alam, Klang, Seremban, Damansara, Sungai Petani, Petaling Jaya and Jasin. Some of these had been built a century ago.

A temple caretaker from Kampung Sungai Kayu Ara, Damansara, broke down as she recounted her horrifying experience of being rudely awoken by explosions from petrol bombs.

"It was early in the morning and I was asleep at the temple when a group of 100 to 200 MPPJ (Petaling Jaya Municipal Council) and police personnel started throwing petrol bombs," she alleged.

"I screamed for help and shouted at them to stop but they ignored me. My heart broke at the sight. I cared for the place and the goddess was like my own mother."

A caretaker from Klang observed: "All the operasi (operations) are done in the early morning when everyone is still sleeping."

Another from Jalan Davies in Kuala Lumpur claimed that the temple and the statues were dug up and buried on-site last February to make way for the RM2 billion Stormwater Management and Road Tunnel (Smart) project running
through the area.

MIC, MCA 'powerless'

Almost all the stories were accompanied with a slide presentation by lawyer P Uthayakumar. In listing the demolished temples, he said Malaysian Hindus deserved better.

"We only want a proper place of worship. Official figures show that the community tops the list for high crime rates but we're banking on our temples for youths to improve."

He also told the audience to stop depending on political parties or elected representatives as "they are powerless despite sitting in high government office".

"Politicians can't do anything, so let them be. The MIC, the MCA have no power. It's time we as citizens take the responsibility of knowing and protecting our rights."

Citing an example, Uthayakumar said Kelantan was led by Islam-based PAS, which supposedly comprised Muslim fundamentalists, but that the state has yet to demolish a single temple.

"This includes Terengganu when it was under PAS (for a term). In fact, the Kelantan government has even given land for a Sikh temple to be built. We have to fight the system. If the temples are demolished, build them again."

He said the mainstream English and Malay media did not find this issue newsworthy because "it is a minority issue" that is closely covered only by the Tamil papers.

Citing an example of freedom of religion, he said that Indonesia, despite being the world's largest Muslim nation, has a depiction of the Hindu deity Lord Ganesha on its Rp20,000 currency note.

"That is freedom of religion, which we hardly have here when our places of worship are continuously being destroyed."

Ipoh Barat DAP MP M Kula Segaran, who hosted the dialogue, plans to move an adjournment speech when Dewan Rakyat sits at the end of the month.

"This is necessary given the urgency of the situation and I expect the government to act on it. I will also see (minister Mohd) Nazri (Abdul Aziz) about this," he said.

"If not addressed, this could escalate into a serious racial issue. We want to put a forceful memorandum to the government because we are citizens and have every right to the facilities under the constitution."

Taking a swipe at the MIC for the prevailing state of affairs of Indian Malaysians, he blamed it as being the "biggest stumbling block" to the community's progress. "The MIC has aggravated the situation by shirking its responsibilities to its constituents while the media's poor coverage, all caught up with the
'sensitive issue' argument, is of no help at all," he said.

Police inaction

Hindraf chairperson P Waytha Moorthy said 50 police reports had been lodged following the demolition of seven temples in the last three months.

"The figure now stands at 12 after we were informed of five more today (Sunday). It is time to protest against such crimes because our complaints and plight have fallen on deaf ears.

"The point is to register our protest. It doesn't matter if we win or lose in court. Section 295 of the Penal Code makes it a crime to injure or defile a place of worship."

On May 2, an injunction was sought to stop the demolition of a temple along Jalan Tampin near Senawang, Negeri Sembilan, believed to be 150 years old going by the gigantic tree under which it is located.

The plaintiffs are four individuals acting on behalf of the Sri Maha Mariamman-Muniswarar Aalaiyam temple committee. The Seremban district and land office and the state government have been named as defendants.

The hearing date for the application has not been fixed, said Waytha Moorthy.

Also present at the roundtable were Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) advisor TM Ramachandran, P Gunasegaran and lawyers A Sivanesan and R Kengadaran who deliberated on an 11-point resolution that was adopted at the
end of the meeting.

It called for, among others, the prime minister to be made the minister of non-Muslim affairs, for a freedom of religion and worship law, and for a national consultative interfaith council to be set up.

On May 11, a group of Malaysian Hindus led by Hindraf had petitioned the government through a memorandum to Nazri to stop the demolition of temples.

"But more temples have been demolished since that meeting," said Uthayakumar, adding that a letter was also sent to Culture, Art and Heritage Minister Dr Rais Yatim to declare old places of worship as a national heritage.

The first protest over temple demolitions was held on May 25 by about a group of 100 who gathered at the Kuala Lumpur City Hall building but were ignored by officials.


ELSEWHERE

From The Pioneer
Dhaka hawks want ancient Dhakeswari temple shifted

Pramod K Singh
June 8, 2006

In a bid to appease fundamentalist Muslims in the run-up to the 2007 general election in Bangladesh, certain sections of the Begum Khaleda Zia Government are mounting pressure to shift the historic Dhakeswari Kali temple located in the heart of Dhaka to a more nondescript smaller plot.

Ironically, Dhaka takes its name from this 12th century temple, the oldest surviving Kali shrine. The temple complex is based at Romona Park from where Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rehman gave his famous clarion call to liberate Bangladesh from Pakistan on March 25, 1971.

According to sources, hardline Islamist Ministers in Begum Khaleda Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party-Jamat-e-Islami Government want the historic temple to be "shifted" to a smaller plot without any delay. This demand, voiced by organisations like the Jamat-e-Islami, has been festering for some time. Moti-ur-Rehman, Amir of Jamat-e-Islami, is Industries Minister in the Begum Zia Government.
In the event the Islamists succeed in forcing the Government to shift the temple, they hope to reap a rich harvest in the general election scheduled for next year.

Highly placed security sources say that the attempt to shift the temple is cause for concern. If this were to happen, it would have an impact in the districts along the Indo-Bangla border and elsewhere.

The minority Hindu community of Bangladesh is agitated over the fundamentalists' move. The Hindu Boudha Christian Aikya Parishad, which represented minorities' interests, has petitioned the Begum Zia Government to prevent the shifting of the temple, a declared place of worship (Debottar Bhumi) as it holds a great deal of symbolism for the minority Hindu community in Bangladesh and for Hindus worldwide.

Leaders of the Hindu Boudha Christian Aikya Parishad and the Bangladesh Puja Celebration Committee have reminded Begum Zia's Government of its assurance that the temple would not be shifted.

The president of the Parishad and renowned Bangladesh freedom fighter Major General CR Dutta, while denouncing the move, has said that shifting a temple and its sanctum sanctorum is against Hindu religious tenet.

He said the 2.2 acre plot on which the temple and an ashram exist at present is classified as a Hindu religious place, the nature of which cannot be changed, nor can it be taken over by the Government. The Parishad and the Puja Celebration Committee have chalked out a joint action plan to fight the fundamentalists' move.

The temple was build in the twelfth century by Ballal Sen. Later, sanyasi Gopal Giri of the Badrinath Ashram at Joshi Math, now in Uttaranchal, came to Dhaka and established a religious seat for his guru. Subsequently, devotees of Maa Anandamayi established the Maa Anandamayi Ashram near the temple.

After being mauled by the Indian Army, retreating Pakistani forces had attacked the temple during the 1971 liberation war. More than 100 ascetics, devotees and others were killed by Pakistani troops on March 27, 1971 during that attack.



Previous posts about temple demolishing (chronological order): 1, 2, 3,
4.

Troubaganger - Postmortem

I read an excerpt from my novel in progress, a passage of about 5000 words, titled "Ujanta", that I wrote early last year. I read it because the incredible Leah-Lakshmi Piepza Samarasinha's most recent blog posts reminded me so much of that passage; my heart was warmed when I saw yet another way in which she and I seem connected (for one example, her father grew up in KL, of all possible places!).

The night did go on for too long, though. My turn only came around over an hour after I was actually slated to take the mic. By the time I - the second to last performer - went on stage, the crowd had dwindled to about half the size it was at the start of the event. Musically, however, it was a pretty good night (I'm not sure what I missed when I stepped downstairs for dinner, but I think I was the only writer who performed, other than during the pre-show open mic). No matter what kind of mediocrity or cronyism characterises KL's commercial arts community, never let it be said that the indie underground music scene is anything other than vibrant, inventive and very exciting.

I was disappointed by my reading of "Suttum Vizhichudadar", which I read both in Tamil and my English translation. I was feeling really tired by that time, and I confess I kind of wanted to get it over with. I didn't feel any of the magic I had felt performing it in No Black Tie in December.

Thanks to anyone who came who's reading this. What did you think (you can email me if you prefer - I'm curious to know)?

Buddies on Youtube

Two young, gifted filmmaker friends of mine have put up some of their new work on Youtube. Sai Abishek Pala Ramesh is a Chennai-based filmmaker, photographer and writer, and The Power of Language was made to participate in a themed contest. Andrew Gooi, a Malaysian photographer and filmmaker presently living in Flagstaff, Arizona, is working on Kept with Charles McIntyre. The film will be finished shortly, and a featurette for it is available here. Enjoy...

Things Standing Shall Fall, But The Moving Ever Shall Stay

Sepia Mutiny carries a post about the ransacking of a temple in Minnesota, including this poignant and graphic photo of a decapitated statue of Andal. I was very heartened to read that, in a show of minority solidarity, the Muslim punk band The Kominas will be holding a concert in Brooklyn to raise funds for the rebuilding of the temple, which at the time of the ransacking was only a few days away from its inauguration. Follow the link for details and discussion.

In light of this and the ongoing persecution of Hindus through the destruction of our sacred places here in Malaysia (my older entries on the matter of local temple demolishing are linked two posts below), I thought I would post up a favourite poem of mine, by the 12th century poet-saint and political activist Basavanna. Vacanas are "religious lyrics in Kannada free verse; vacana means literally, 'saying, thing said' " (from the introduction in the book which contains this translation).

Its relevance, today, is startling and beautiful. The last stanza captures so well what it means to hold on to faith under fire.


Basavanna

Vacana 820


The rich
will make temples for Siva.
What shall I,
a poor man,
do?

My legs are pillars,
the body the shrine,
the head a cupola
of gold.

Listen, O lord of the meeting rivers,
things standing shall fall,
but the moving ever shall stay.


- translated from the Kannada by A.K. Ramanujan in Speaking of Siva (Penguin Classics)

The Troubaganger Anniversary Show - Sunday June 4th

Troubaganger Anniversary Show
June 4, Sunday
La Bodega KL, Tengkat Tong Shin
RM5 entry - and happy hour all night!

For maps, go here (vague, if you're fairly familiar with the Bukit Bintang area) and here (detailed)

Will you be there? :)