Hindu Temple Says Will Follow Judgment To Relocate As Rival Group Hints At Trouble

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SUBANG JAYA: The administrator of a temple which is due to move out of its present location says he is committed to abiding by a consent judgment, even as a group of devotees demand that the temple remain there as it has historical value
K Chellappa wants all parties to accept and uphold the rule of law in the relocation of the temple.K Chellappa said it was important that all parties respect the consent judgment by the High Court, settling a dispute between the Sri Maha Mariamman temple in Seafield and One City, the developer which owns the land where the temple has been located for more than 40 years
“The issue here is that there is a court order which needs to be fulfilled,” he told FMT
M Nagaraju, who previously challenged Chellappa for the temple’s leadership, is trying to stop its relocation, saying it has historical value dating back hundreds of years
He found support in a former Hindraf activist, N Ganesan, who now heads an NGO called Freedom Malaysia
He wants the government to step in and stop the relocation, warning that “the inevitable will occur”
“If the developer pursues a non-compromising and aggressive approach touting the court order and pushing ahead, attempting to demolish the temple, and the government does not intervene, we are probably looking at an extremely explosive situation as what happened in previous years under Barisan Nasional,” said Ganesan, who also hit out at Dr Mahathir Mohamad, accusing him of misleading the Indians by giving more Cabinet positions to those from the community
“Mahathir is a master at creating mirages,” Ganesan added
Chellappa dismissed his allegations, including the claim that the temple is 147 years old. Instead, he said, the temple was built in 1974
“People can try to make up stories, they can say anything they want.”At the heart of the issue is a civil suit that led to a consent judgment in March 2014 for the temple’s relocation
It was agreed that One City would provide two pieces of land for a new temple as well as a donation of RM1.5 million. The Selangor state government meanwhile would gazette the new site as a place of worship
In return, the temple management would hand back vacant possession of the land to One City
Nagaraju, who previously agreed to the judgment, had separately challenged Chellappa in court to take over the temple management committee, but lost
Chellappa questioned Nagaraju’s about-turn, adding that this could be due to him not being declared the rightful administrator
“Why did Nagaraju agree to the temple relocation in the first place if he felt so strongly that the temple should remain? Would he not agree to the relocation if the court decided he was the administrator?”Chellappa said One City had been fair to everyone including the state government, adding that other Hindu temples had got it worse when they were forcibly torn down
“There are places in Kuala Lumpur where the developers take back their land and only give RM10,000 or RM15,000 compensation
“Here, the developer which owns the land gave us two new pieces of land and RM1.5 million. I don’t think in Malaysian history anyone has done this. You sit on someone’s land and they give you new land and so much money.”He said another RM1 million was offered by One City after the temple decided to give up its rights to one of the two pieces of land
Chellappa said the present site where the Sri Maha Mariamman temple was located was not suitable as it was too close to the main road and lacked parking space
He said the new site was not only bigger but also gazetted as a place of worship
“The government has also set aside land next to the new site for a dedicated parking lot.” - FMT

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