MIC To Set Up Council Of Hindu Temples

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 5 (Bernama) -- The MIC will set up a Council of Hindu Temples in every state to protect the temples and resolve their problems through the state governments, MIC president Datuk Seri S.Samy Vellu said Saturday.

The formation of the council comes just weeks after Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi instructed Samy Vellu to list the number of temples in the country and identify their problems.

Samy Vellu, who is Works Minister, said the council would be chaired by the state executive councillors from the MIC or the state party chiefs.

"The MIC considers the demolition of temples as a very serious political matter and it requires consultations from various parties," he said in a statement.

As such, the council would be tasked with several functions, among others, to safeguard temples and to protect the integrity of the Hindu religion; to register temples which comply with the requirements; and to obtain permanent and suitable alternative sites for temples.

Samy Vellu said that if a temple was found to have been built on private or government land, the council would seek an alternative and suitable site for it.

"The council will also ascertain that the plans for all the temples have been submitted to the local authorities to prevent future problems. The council will get the approval for the plans once they have been submitted," he said.

However, it would not interfere in the running of the temple or its administration, he added.

The council, he said, would list the number of temples in a locality and compile the problems faced by these temples.

The first meeting on the formation of the council was held in Perak last Dec 27, attended by 750 temple heads and chaired by Samy Vellu.

He said the Selangor MIC organised another meeting yesterday attended by Selangor Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Khir Toyo and more than 1,000 temple heads.

"I will chair another meeting of temple heads from the Federal Territory on Jan 13," he said, adding that many cases of temple demolitions are confined to Kuala Lumpur.

Samy Vellu said that without political support, the fate of temples, especially those built illegally would be in limbo.

-- BERNAMA



Source :Bernama
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