Author: Indo-Asian News Service
Publication: The New Indian Express
Date: December 2, 2006
URL: http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IEW20061201084326
A 100-year-old Hindu temple in Malaysia has
been demolished following a court order. The deities will move to a new site
provided by the authorities.
Contractors appointed by the Universiti Teknologi
Malaysia (UTM) bulldozed the Sri Muthu Mariamman temple on Thursday at Skudia
in Johor in southern Malaysia after a court order on Tuesday seeking vacation
of the temple premises, reported the New Straits Times on Friday.
The temple was situated at the Uniroyal Linden
Estate, a rubber plantation that was home to around 1,000 families.
UTM, a public university with its main campus
in Skudai, had first made claims on the plantation in 1992. Prior to that,
in 1975, Malaysia's education ministry had bought off the plantation land
for UTM.
Since 1992, there have been various attempts
to save the temple. Help was sought from the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC),
the premier political party representing the Indian community in Malaysia,
and the Johor state government.
Ethnic Indians, mostly Hindus, comprise around
eight percent of Malaysia's total population of around 24 million.
The New Straits Times report quoted temple
president A. Subramaniam as saying that his family had been looking after
the temple for three generations.
"Soon after the sale of the plantation
land to UTM in 1975, most menfolk lost their jobs and subsequently in 1987
UTM asked us to move out of our quarters," he told the newspaper. "We
were lucky to obtain low-cost houses through MIC."
Temple authorities are planning to move the
deities to another location provided by the Johor state government.
A UTM lawyer told the dialy on condition of
anonymity that the demolition process was carried out smoothly and there were
no protests or demonstrations.
Meanwhile, Malaysian Hindu Sangam president
A. Vaithilingam has condemned the demolition.
"While it is true the education ministry
acquired the land for UTM, the authorities should have been fully aware that
the old temple existed there," he said in a statement.