Lawyer sues government to halt temple demolitions
Malaysiakini.com
Dec 18, 2006
Wong Yeen Fern

A lawyer has filed a suit against the government over the demolition of Hindu temples. He is also seeking an injunction against any future demolitions until the matter is disposed of.

Acting on behalf of the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) and some two million Hindus in the country, P Uthayakumar filed the suit via his lawyer M Manoharan with the Kuala Lumpur High Court (Criminal Division) Registrar Office this morning.

“Once the case is filed, the government cannot simply demolish temples until a decision is made by the court,” he said when contacted later.

If the demolition continues, Uthayakumar warned that those responsible could be in contempt of court.

He argued that the demolition of temples was against Article 11 of the Federal Constitution which guarantees freedom of religion.

He said such demolitions constituted a criminal offence under Section 295 (defiling a place of worship), Section 296 (disturbing a religious assembly), Section 298A (causing racial disharmony) and Section 441 (criminal trespass) of the Penal Code.

"This is our last resort, we have exhausted all other avenues," he added.

Uthayakumar said the case would be a landmark decision in the country, where issues regarding race and religion are never debated by the government for fear of causing tensions.

"If the courts throw it out, they are actually authorising the breaking down of any temple they want in Malaysia. This would be a landmark decision," he said.

Uthayakumar also claimed that the regulation used by the government to demolish Hindu temples was invalid.

“The regulation they use which is the Clearance of Squatters Act 1969 is not applicable in the demolition of Hindu temples because these places are not squatters,” he said.

Invalid regulation

In his suit, Uthayakumar named all menteris besar and chief ministers, except for Kelantan and Penang, as the first respondent while all mayors and local council presidents were named as the second respondent.

All land and mines department directors as well as all district officers were named as the third respondent followed by Housing and Local Government Ministry chief secretary Ahmad Fuad Ismail as the fourth respondent.

As for the fifth to the 10th respondent, he named Federal Territories Minister Zulhasnan Rafique, the inspector-general of police, the Sentul district police chief, the attorney-general, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz and chief secretary to the government Sidek Hassan.

In his notice, Uthayakumar also sought a court order preventing all the respondents from allowing the demolition of Hindu temples and deities anywhere in the country.

The lawyer also claimed he was beaten and jailed by the workers of the second respondent when they were demolishing the Sri Siva Balakrisnar Muniswarar Alayam in Setapak on June 8.

He claimed that the latest action was to demolish the Devi Sri Karumariaman temple in Petaling Jaya on Nov 30.

Meanwhile, Uthayakumar told malaysiakini that after the suit was filed, a group led by Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) Youth deputy chief S Manickavasagam went to the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) headquarters to inform them of the matter.

Copyright © 1999-2006 Mkini Dotcom Sdn Bhd