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May 27, 2006

Malaysia: Islamic Authorities Destroy More Hindu Temples

We reported on April 22 that a century old Hindu temple, the Malaimel Sri Selva Kaliam-man Temple in Kuala Lumpur, was bulldozed, without previous warning, on Tuesday April 18. A prayer session was in progress, and police cleared the building and set the bulldozers to demolish the temple, which was dedicated to the deity Devi.

The above incident was reported in India, but as I have realised while researching the background to this story, Malaysia's mainstream media are disgracefully oblivious to such activities going on right under their noses.

Bernama News Agency, the Malaysia Star, The New Straits Times, all seem to ignore the oppression of Hindus going on in a country which purports to be a "moderate Muslim nation". There is no such thing as a moderate Muslim nation.

Once in the majority, Muslims cannot avoid oppressing those of other faiths. The only news source which does occasionally publish stories and letters which are not hagiographies to the dissembling ideology of former president Mahathir Mohamad is MalaysiaKini. And of course, weblogs by concerned Malaysian non-Muslims.

India's Financial Express and Hindustan Times reported that on Thursday, 25 May, about 50 Hindus (pictured) staged a protest outside Kuala Lumpur City Hall. They threatened to instigate legal action against the government and local councils if the destruction of Hindu temples does not cease.

The case of the demolition of the Malaimel Sri Selva Kaliam-man Temple became known in the international media because of the extreme age of the temple. But there have been several temples destroyed just this year.

According to Policewatch Malaysia, a weblog, the following temples were destroyed:

22 February, Sri Ayyanar Sathiswary Alayam Temple Jalan Davies was demolished, with its statues buried on the site.

18 April, Malaimel Sri Selva Kaliam-man Temple was bulldozed.

26 April, Sri Mariaman Temple Seksyen 11, served with demolition order by Shah Alam City Council.

9 May, Sri Kaliamman temple (pictured) in Shah Alam, was demolished by the City Council.

11 May, Aum Sri Siva Balakrishnan Muniswarar temple, in Setapak, Kuala Lumpur, was partially demolished. This temple was 60 years old.

14 May, Sri Balakrishan Muniswarer temple in Setapak was partly demolished, and then given a demolition notice by Kuala Lumpur City Hall.

15 May, Ganggai Muthu Karumariaman temple in Keddah, was subjected to an arson attack.

This latter case was the only incident which got a mention in the mainstream Malaysian media, in the Star. And it was one of three temples to be attacked on that night of Sunday 15 to Monday 16 May. The other arson attacks happened in Batu Putih, Kulim, in the state of Kedah. Kedah state adjoins the border with the province of Yala in Thailand, scene of the Muslim insurgency.

The Sri Muthu Mariamman Temple was seen with flames inside around 9.30 pm. Statues, which had been covered in fabric raiment, had been burned. Only the cloth was damaged, and the statues survived.

About half a mile away, the Sivasakthi Muneeswarar Temple was set alight, and residents managed to save some statues and other religious items. A can of diesel fuel was found nearby. A man had been witnessed acting suspiciously when the fires had begun, and he fled when seen.

What the Malaysian media patently failed to mention was that earlier that day, there had been a protest by Hindus about destruction of temples, which had been disrupted by violent assaults made upon them by Muslim activists.

The BBC reported that the demonstration happened in Shah Alam, in Selangor State. Shah Alam is a satellite city of Kuala Lumpur, and is dominated by Malay-Muslims.

Before a crowd of Muslims broke up the protest, the demonstration was being led by Dr Jacob George, president of the Consumers Association of Subang and Shah Alam. The object of the protest was to prevent the Shah Alam City Council from demolishing another Hindu temple, which had been in existence for 107 years, the Sri Mariaman Temple.

As in the case of the April 17 demolition of the century old Malaimel Sri Selva Kaliam-man Temple, the reasons given by the authorities is that the founders of both antiquated temples did not have permission to build them. There are not land records available in Malaysia from 100 years ago. For such a flimsy excuse when the buildings have stood for more than a century, there is obviously an ulterior motive. And that is Islamification.

Dr George said: "I'm becoming an alien in Malaysia, in my own country".

The demonstration which took place outside Kuala Lumpur City Hall on Thursday (25 May) saw Hindus carrying placards saying "Demolishing temples is criminal". A Hindu priest lit candles and prayers wee said to the Hindu deity Shiva. A coconut was symbolically smashed as a prayer offering.

The protesters said that hundreds of Hindu temples have been destroyed over the past 15 years, and again, they blamed the "Islamisication" of Malaysia. Since late February, at least seven Hindu temples have been torn down or served demolition notices, at various parts of the country.

Malaysia Policewatch states that in the two states which are run by the PAS (Islamic Party of Malaysia) on the east coast, Kelantan and Terrengannu, not a single temple has been destroyed in 50 years of their administration.

The UMNO party, however, is not supportive of non-Muslims. We reported on March 21 that the Law Minister in the Malaysian government, Mohamad Nazri Abdul Aziz of the UMNO party, threatened to have anyone who criticised Islam tried for sedition.

Recently, the government announced that all policewomen, in their annual parade, including non-Muslims, should all wear the Islamic headscarf (called a tudung in Malaysia).

Hindus have felt particularly oppressed in Malaysia, but just before Christmas, a nearly completed Christian church near Skudai in Johor state was completely demolished. And heretical Muslims, such as the Sky Kingdom Sect, had all of their wondrous constructions demolished in Terrenganu State last year. The reason given was that they had not gained planning permission. And of course, even though Islamic constructions are no more documented than Hindu, Christian places of worship, or other buildings of "heretical faiths", no mosques are ever demolished. Such is always the way of Islam.

Hindus comprise 9% of Malaysia's population, and many of these are Tamils. Islam arrived in Malaysia in the 15th century, but Hinduism has existed in Malaysia for far longer than Islam. But now, Hindus are feeling under threat. In December, a Hindu mountaineering hero, M. Moorthy, was buried by an Islamic Court. Two weeks before he died, while he was in a coma, the Islamic courts were told that he had become a Muslim. In opposition to the claims of his wife Kaliammal, who said he had never converted to Islam, a federal court said it had no powers to reverse the Islamic Courts' judgement. Moorthy was interred in a Muslim graveyard, in Muslim burial rites, even though he was a Hindu.

All ethnic Malays (who comprise 60% of the demographic) are automatically designated as Muslims, and as everyone is issued with identity cards in childhood, which state one's religion, which is registered, it is virtually impossible to convert out of Islam. The only ethnic Malay ever allowed to change her faith was a woman aged 89, called Nyonya Tahir. She had become a Buddhist when she married her Chinese husband in the 1930s. She made history when she became the only person ever allowed to officially apostasise. The shariah courts only granted her this privilege after she had died. So in effect, the Islamic courts, which wield massive power in the nation, have NEVER allowed anyone to legally leave Islam.

Article 3 of Malaysia's constitution states that Islam is the official religion of the state, but Article 3 (1) of the constitution states that 'other religions may be practiced in peace and harmony in any part of the Federation'.

However, Article 121 (1A) of the constitution rules that the Islamic courts are not to be affected by decisions in a civil court.This clause states that civil courts have no jurisdiction on "any matter" which already falls within the scope of the Syariah or Islamic courts.

One woman, a Christian called Lina Joy, is set to challenge this inflexibility of the so-called "moderate Muslim nation". She converted from Islam to Christianity, but no Islamic court will allow her to be registered as a Christian. The "moderate Muslim nation" will not allow her to marry her Christian boyfriend. Finally the highest court in the nation, the Federal Court, has agreed to review her case before the end of this year.

Until people really are "free to practise any religion of their choosing", as specified in Article 11 of the nation's constitution, Malaysia is a prime example of the truism that there is no such thing as "moderate Islam".

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at May 27, 2006 11:12 PM

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