Temples in Malaysia

In an article that takes up the entire front and back page of the Organiser, editor R. Balashankar slams the Malaysian government for demolishing “thousands of Hindu temples” in the country over the years.

In an article that takes up the entire front and back page of the Organiser, editor R. Balashankar slams the Malaysian government for demolishing “thousands of Hindu temples” in the country over the years. According to the article, “For the Hindus in Malaysia, life has become a hell. The local administrations in Malaysia with the covert support of the federal government are systematically demolishing Hindu temples. In the last 20 months the situation has become so intolerable that the Hindu organisations in Malaysia have appealed to the UN and other international agencies for the first time, seeking intervention.”

It claims that though Hindu Tamils form 15 per cent of the population, “they do not enjoy and exercise any political right unlike the minorities in India.” Claiming that around 10,000 temples have been demolished since 1985, the article says that almost all of them are older than the Republic of Malaysia (which gained independence on August 31, 1957) and some — built by labourers and businessmen who immigrated during British rule — are over two hundred years old.

“The villain in the situation,” writes Balashankar, “entered in the form of land greed, coupled with the advent of Islamic religious extremism and development.”

Local Hindus led by an NGO, Hindu Rights Action Force (HINDRAF), have now appealed to the UN to intervene in the matter, says Balashankar, adding, “Malaysia is the latest in the list of nations where the Hindus are facing religious persecution. Sometime ago, in Russia the ISKON temple was demolished. It is a regular happening in Bangladesh and Pakistan.”

RSS and Ram Setu

RSS chief K.S. Sudarshan and general secretary Mohan Bhagwat have jointly appealed to the government of India to immediately stop work on the Setu Samudram Ship Channel Project near Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu and to appoint a committee to explore the possibility of finishing the project without destroying the Ram Setu, says a report.

In a joint statement, the RSS top brass expressed deep concern “over the avoidable destruction of the age-old undersea bridge popularly known as Ram Setu” in view of the fact that “crores of Hindus believe that this under-water wonder is the bridge constructed by Lord Ram with the help of vanars during his campaign against Ravana.”

The statement also claims that satellite images released by NASA a couple of years ago “confirmed that there indeed exists a bridge-like construction in the sea-bed, thus fortifying the belief of millions of Hindus.”

‘Communal Carnival’

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This week’s editorial lashes out at the CPM for joining the Congress in “cynically encouraging the revival of Muslim separatism and segregation of that community from the national mainstream.” Accusing the communists of appeasing the Muslims, it says that the “Charter of Demands for the Advancement of Muslim Community” released by the CPM “is a dangerous document reminiscent of the Muslim League demands under Mohammad Ali Jinnah.”

It further says, “Jinnah had a 16-point charter of demands when he first confronted the Congress in 1916. The CPM has a 23-point charter with concrete proposals for the Centre’s consideration for creating a separate Muslim constituency! The Muslim rally in the capital had a strong echo of the CPM general secretary Prakash Karat’s advice to the UPA ‘not to allow itself to be browbeaten or succumb to the propaganda about minority appeasement.’ Strong counsel that is.”

Asserting that the country cannot afford “to be mute to this sudden and frenzied communal carnival,” it called upon “patriotic forces to close their ranks and challenge this insensitive promotion of identity politics.”

Compiled by Manini Chatterjee