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©New
Straits Times (Used by permission)
KUALA LUMPUR: The demolition of a Hindu temple was the "atomic bomb" that
destroyed Indian support for Barisan Nasional in the March 8 general election,
MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu said yesterday.
He said the BN paid the price for the rash actions of some,
leading to the Indian vote going largely to the opposition.
The former works minister, an unexpected casualty of the political tsunami that
swept parts of the nation during the polls, said the BN would have had the
support of Indians if it had addressed the issue of temples properly.
He cited the demolition of the 36-year-old temple in Kg Karuppiah, Padang Jawa,
by the Selangor government last October as the straw that broke the camel's
back.
"That one temple that was demolished in Padang Jawa became a big atomic bomb
which chased away the Indian community.
"We blindly smashed the temple and we paid the price for it.
If we had jaga jaga (looked after) the temples, we would have won the Indian
vote," he said at MIC headquarters.
Samy Vellu had called for the press conference to thank the federal government
for approving the renewal of work permits for 800 foreign priests for gurdwaras
(Sikh temples) and Hindu temples.
Samy Vellu acknowledged, however, that the Selangor government had later
allocated a 10,000 sq ft piece of land in Shah Alam to rebuild the temple.
The general election saw Samy Vellu defeated by Parti Keadilan Rakyat's Dr
Michael Jeyakumar Devaraj in the Sungai Siput parliamentary seat, a constituency
he has held since 1974.
On why the Home Ministry approved the renewal of visas for Hindu priests and
temple musicians and artisans from India, he said they understood the
implications of not doing so.
"There will be a problem if they do not give approval as temples may have to be
closed."
He said the BN's failure to secure the two-thirds majority in parliament was
discussed at Wednesday's BN management committee meeting chaired by Deputy Prime
Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
"We discussed why we lost the elections. We asked questions like 'What is wrong
with us?' and 'How did we lose the trust of the people?" he said.
Samy Vellu was confident that the BN would spring back to its former glory under
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and plans to rejuvenate the
coalition.
He said the BN was the only party that could bring stability, strength, unity
and development to Malaysians.
"There is no other party. You can have 25 other parties joining together but BN
is a party of experience. It is a party of leadership. It is a party that has
led the country for 50 years," he said.
On the Home Ministry's plan not to renew the permit of the Makkal Osai, he said
this should not have happened and that the Tamil newspaper could appeal against
the decision.
"I am sorry about it. I do not know why they did it. But the newspaper can
always appeal against the decision."
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Circular No 297/2008
