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Lawyer out to stop
demolitions
©Malaysiakini
(Used by permission)
by 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.
Acing 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.
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