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MALAYSIA: State orchestrated destruction of Hindu temples

June 15, 2006

URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Urgent Appeal

15 June 2006
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UA-189-2006: MALAYSIA: State orchestrated destruction of Hindu temples

MALAYSIA: Violation of freedom of religion; violation of equality before the law; defiling a place of worship; police misconduct; threat and intimidation; collapse of rule of law
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has come to learn of several cases involving the demolition or at least partial damage of Hindu temples in Malaysia following orders by government authorities. Furthermore, in addition to such acts, which are a violation of domestic laws, those ordered to carry out the destruction have used force and caused injuries to the devotees of the temples.

Over the past 15 years thousands of ancient and pre-independent Hindu temples have been unlawfully "cleansed" by the State and local authorities. This had primarily gone unnoticed due to the fact that the caretakers of these temples are mainly downtrodden, poor, uneducated, ignorant and defenseless citizens of the Indian community within Malaysia.

The latest incident happened on 12 June 2006 where a 110-year-old temple's three Hindu deities were smashed to pieces and destroyed with sledge hammers right before the devotee's eyes. This was done by the Shah Alam Mayor, his enforcement team, Shah Alam police and an unknown group of Malay Muslims. The demolition of the ancient Malaimel Sri Selva Kaliaamman Temple on 17 April 2006 is another recent example of the ruthless, barbaric and unlawful act of top officers of the Government.

By virtue of the government’s unwillingness to intervene, the key perpetrators of these crimes, the Mayor of Kuala Lumpur and Shah Alam City Hall and the Royal Police Force have now gained momentum and strength and have gone on to commit further offenses as evident with the demolishment of the Om Sri Balakrishna Muniswarar Temple located in Setapak on 8 June 2006. This temple, despite being located on private land, was acquired for development purposes and demolished to pave way for a highway project. Simple government intervention would have prevented this from occurring, but this was not done. Evidently, the government failed to intervene in order to aid a private developer pursuing commercial interests. Furthermore, and of greater significance, the government failed to intervene in order to belittle the Hindu worshipers who used the temple, as alternative arrangements have been made in similar circumstances where Muslim followers were involved.

A total of 30 cases against the police were immediately lodged by the devotees of the temple after the rampage caused by at least 200 members of the Enforcement Divisions of DBKL and MBSA backed by the Royal Malaysian Police Force and unknown Malay Muslim groups. These forces were also accompanied by a mysterious group of Indian gangsters who arrived at the temple with the police team from Setapak.

During the rampage, legal adviser and human rights defender, Mr. P Uthayakumar was assaulted during arrest and was almost killed as a result of the violent conduct displayed by the Enforcement Officers. He was also warned while in the detention of the Sentul police station that he would be attacked at gunpoint and may come to harm should he continue in his activities regarding the temple.

In addition to the treatment of Mr. Uthayakumar, during the rampage an elderly woman was pulled along by her hair then thrown to the ground, a pregnant woman was knocked unconscious, a seven-year-old child was thrown into the air with force and another elderly woman sustained a fractured hand.

Such state sponsored crime is a violation of various domestic laws: Article 8 of the Federal Constitution (Equality before the law); Article 11 of the Federal Constitution (Freedom of Religion); Section 295 of the Penal Code (Defiling a place of worship); and Section 298A of the Penal Code (Causing racial disharmony and hatred). Under Article 145 of the Federal Constitution the Attorney General of Malaysia is the person entrusted by His Royal Highness the Yang Dipertuan Agong to institute criminal proceedings against any subject who has committed a crime. Evident from the above is that crimes have been committed and therefore the Attorney General must carry out his duty to pursue those who have breached the law.

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please write to the Attorney General in Malaysia requesting his intervention in this matter. As the person responsible for instituting criminal proceedings against any subject who has commited a crime, the Attorney General must act immediately and bring justice to those who have ordered and those who have directly carried out the destruction of Hindu temples. Please send copies of your letter to the relevant authorities listed below.

Suggested letter:

Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail
Attorney General
Attorney General's Chambers of Malaysia
Level 1-8 Block C3, Parcel C
Federal Government Administrative Center
62512 Putrajaya
MALAYSIA
Tel No: +603 8885 5004, +603 8885 5000
Fax No: +603 8888 9362
Email: ag@agc.gov.my


Dear Tan Sri

MALAYSIA: State orchestrated destruction of Hindu temples

I write to voice my strong condemnation of the demolition or at least partial damage of Hindu temples in Malaysia following orders by government authorities. I have learned that in the past 15 years thousands of ancient and pre-independence Hindu temples have been unlawfully “cleansed” by State and local authorities. This has gone primarily unnoticed despite it breaching many domestic laws.

The latest incident happened on 12 June 2006 where a 110-year-old temple's three Hindu deities were smashed to pieces and destroyed with sledge hammers right before the devotee's eyes. This was done by the Shah Alam Mayor, his enforcement team, Shah Alam police and an unknown group of Malay Muslims. The demolition of the ancient Malaimel Sri Selva Kaliaamman Temple on 17 April 2006 is another recent example of the ruthless, barbaric and unlawful act of top officers of the Government.

By virtue of the government’s unwillingness to intervene, the key perpetrators of these crimes, the Mayor of Kuala Lumpur and Shah Alam City Hall and the Royal Police Force have now gained momentum and strength and have gone on to commit further offenses as evident with the demolishment of the Om Sri Balakrishna Muniswarar Temple located in Setapak on 8 June 2006. This temple, despite being located on private land, was acquired for development purposes and demolished to pave way for a highway project. Simple government intervention would have prevented this from occurring, but this was not done. Evidently, the government failed to intervene in order to aid a private developer pursuing commercial interests. Furthermore, and of greater significance, the government failed to intervene in order to belittle the Hindu worshipers who used the temple, as alternative arrangements have been made in similar circumstances where Muslim followers were involved.

A total of 30 cases against the police were immediately lodged by the devotees of the temple after the rampage caused by at least 200 members of the Enforcement Divisions of DBKL and MBSA backed by the Royal Malaysian Police Force and unknown Malay Muslim groups. These forces were also accompanied by a mysterious group of Indian gangsters who arrived at the temple with the police team from Setapak.

During the rampage, legal adviser and human rights defender, Mr. P Uthayakumar was assaulted while being arrested and was almost killed as a result of the violent conduct displayed by the Enforcement Officers. He was also warned while in the detention of the Sentul police station that he would be attacked at gunpoint and may come to harm should he continue in his activities regarding the temple.

In addition to the treatment of Mr. Uthayakumar, during the rampage an elderly woman was pulled along by her hair then thrown to the ground, a pregnant woman was knocked unconscious, a seven-year-old child was thrown into the air with force and another elderly woman sustained a fractured hand.

As the Attorney General of Malaysia I am sure you are well aware that such state sponsored crime is a violation of various domestic laws: Article 8 of the Federal Constitution (Equality before the law); Article 11 of the Federal Constitution (Freedom of Religion); Section 295 of the Penal Code (Defiling a place of worship); and Section 298A of the Penal Code (Causing racial disharmony and hatred). I am also sure that you are more than aware that under Article 145 of the Federal Constitution the Attorney General of Malaysia is the person entrusted by His Royal Highness the Yang Dipertuan Agong to institute criminal proceedings against any subject who has committed a crime. Evident from the above is that crimes have been committed and therefore I urge you to carry out your duty to pursue those who have breached the law.

The complete disregard and lack of respect shown to those who worship within the temples that have been damaged is entirely unacceptable. I trust that you will intervene to remedy this situation.

Yours sincerely,

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PLEASE SEND COPIES OF YOUR LETTER TO:

1. Dato' Seri Abdullah Hj. Ahmad Badawi
Prime Minister
Block D1, Parcal D, Pusat Pentadbiran Putrajaya
62502 Putrajaya, Selangor
MALAYSIA
Tel: 03-88888000/88888032
Fax: 03-88883444
E-mail: abdullah@kdn.gov.my

2. Datuk Seri Mohd Bakri Omar
Inspector General of Police
Ketua Polis Negara, Ibupejabat Polis Diraja Malaysia
Bukit Aman, 50502 Kuala Lumpur
MALAYSIA
Tel: +60 3 2262 6310
Fax: +60 3 2273 1326
Email: rmp@rmp.gov.my

3. Tan Sri Abu Talib Othman
Chairperson
Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (SUHAKAM)
29th Floor, Menara Tun Razak
Jalan Raja Laut, 50350 Kuala Lumpur
MALAYSIA
Tel: +603 2612 5600
Fax: +603 2612 5620
E-mail: humanrights@suhakam.org.my

4. Ms. Asma Jahangir
UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion
OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Fax: +41 22 917 9006
E-mail: freedomofreligion@ohchr.org  / urgent-action@ohchr.org

Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ahrchk@ahrchk.org)

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
UA-189-2006
Issues :
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Extended Introduction: Urgent Appeals, theory and practice

A need for dialogue

Many people across Asia are frustrated by the widespread lack of respect for human rights in their countries.  Some may be unhappy about the limitations on the freedom of expression or restrictions on privacy, while some are affected by police brutality and military killings.  Many others are frustrated with the absence of rights on labour issues, the environment, gender and the like. 

Yet the expression of this frustration tends to stay firmly in the private sphere.  People complain among friends and family and within their social circles, but often on a low profile basis. This kind of public discourse is not usually an effective measure of the situation in a country because it is so hard to monitor. 

Though the media may cover the issues in a broad manner they rarely broadcast the private fears and anxieties of the average person.  And along with censorship – a common blight in Asia – there is also often a conscious attempt in the media to reflect a positive or at least sober mood at home, where expressions of domestic malcontent are discouraged as unfashionably unpatriotic. Talking about issues like torture is rarely encouraged in the public realm.

There may also be unwritten, possibly unconscious social taboos that stop the public reflection of private grievances.  Where authoritarian control is tight, sophisticated strategies are put into play by equally sophisticated media practices to keep complaints out of the public space, sometimes very subtly.  In other places an inner consensus is influenced by the privileged section of a society, which can control social expression of those less fortunate.  Moral and ethical qualms can also be an obstacle.

In this way, causes for complaint go unaddressed, un-discussed and unresolved and oppression in its many forms, self perpetuates.  For any action to arise out of private frustration, people need ways to get these issues into the public sphere.

Changing society

In the past bridging this gap was a formidable task; it relied on channels of public expression that required money and were therefore controlled by investors.  Printing presses were expensive, which blocked the gate to expression to anyone without money.  Except in times of revolution the media in Asia has tended to serve the well-off and sideline or misrepresent the poor.

Still, thanks to the IT revolution it is now possible to communicate with large audiences at little cost.  In this situation there is a real avenue for taking issues from private to public, regardless of the class or caste of the individual.

Practical action

The AHRC Urgent Appeals system was created to give a voice to those affected by human rights violations, and by doing so, to create a network of support and open avenues for action.  If X’s freedom of expression is denied, if Y is tortured by someone in power or if Z finds his or her labour rights abused, the incident can be swiftly and effectively broadcast and dealt with. The resulting solidarity can lead to action, resolution and change. And as more people understand their rights and follow suit, as the human rights consciousness grows, change happens faster. The Internet has become one of the human rights community’s most powerful tools.   

At the core of the Urgent Appeals Program is the recording of human rights violations at a grass roots level with objectivity, sympathy and competence. Our information is firstly gathered on the ground, close to the victim of the violation, and is then broadcast by a team of advocates, who can apply decades of experience in the field and a working knowledge of the international human rights arena. The flow of information – due to domestic restrictions – often goes from the source and out to the international community via our program, which then builds a pressure for action that steadily makes its way back to the source through his or her own government.   However these cases in bulk create a narrative – and this is most important aspect of our program. As noted by Sri Lankan human rights lawyer and director of the Asian Human Rights Commission, Basil Fernando:

"The urgent appeal introduces narrative as the driving force for social change. This idea was well expressed in the film Amistad, regarding the issue of slavery. The old man in the film, former president and lawyer, states that to resolve this historical problem it is very essential to know the narrative of the people. It was on this basis that a court case is conducted later. The AHRC establishes the narrative of human rights violations through the urgent appeals. If the narrative is right, the organisation will be doing all right."

Patterns start to emerge as violations are documented across the continent, allowing us to take a more authoritative, systemic response, and to pinpoint the systems within each country that are breaking down. This way we are able to discover and explain why and how violations take place, and how they can most effectively be addressed. On this path, larger audiences have opened up to us and become involved: international NGOs and think tanks, national human rights commissions and United Nations bodies.  The program and its coordinators have become a well-used tool for the international media and for human rights education programs. All this helps pave the way for radical reforms to improve, protect and to promote human rights in the region.