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©The Star (Used by permission)
By Cecil Fung

KUALA LUMPUR: A lawyer has filed a notice of motion seeking to halt the demolition of temples in peninsular Malaysia.

P. Uthayakumar filed the notice yesterday against the mentris besar and chief ministers of every state in the peninsula except Kelantan and Penang, as well as the mayors of city councils and presidents of other local authorities.

In his application, he claimed that a nine-month study conducted by the Hindu Rights Action Force from Feb 22 to Nov 31 had found that 74 temples had been demolished or given notice of demolition, burned down or forced to be relocated next to sewage plants or had the statues of their deities removed by force.

The reason he has excluded Kelantan and Penang from his application is because none of these had happened in the two states.

He also named as respondents all the directors and administrators of all the Land and Mines Offices, the Housing and Local Government Ministry's secretary-general, the Federal Territories Minister, the Sentul police chief, the Inspector-General of Police, the Attorney-General, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz and the Chief Secretary to the Government.

Uthayakumar filed the application at the registry of the High Court's criminal division here accompanied by counsel M. Manoharan.

Among other things, he is seeking to declare that all the respondents have no power to demolish or order the demolition of temples as well as statues of deities on the contention that such acts are criminal offences defined under the Penal Code.

The lawyer is also seeking to declare that notices issued under the Essential (Clearance of Squatters) Regulations 1969 are not applicable to Hindu temples.

He also wants an order to compel the relevant parties to gazette all Hindu temple grounds as reserve land and for the land titles to be issued to the temple trustees, similar to what is done for mosques and surau nationwide.

Uthayakumar said he had filed the application in his personal capacity on behalf of all Hindu temples and the two million Hindus in Malaysia.

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