08-31-2009, 04:40 AM
Cow protest in Selangor
Selangor officials to hold talks with residents; MB calls protest a deliberate attack on racial harmony
By Carolyn Hong, Malaysia Bureau Chief
KUALA LUMPUR - AS MALAYSIANS continue to angrily condemn Friday's provocative protest over the building of a Hindu temple, the Selangor government has promised to meet Muslim residents of the area to hear their complaints.
In an attempt to cool temperatures, Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim yesterday directed the Shah Alam city hall to hold an open discussion this week with the 'real residents' of the neighbourhood where the temple is to be built.
'This is not just to listen to their grievances, but also to allow the state government to explain the real facts for relocating the temple from Section 19 to Section 23,' he said in a statement yesterday.
He urged the people to remain calm, and called the protest a deliberate provocation to undermine racial harmony and political stability.
The protesters had brought the severed head of a cow, a sacred animal to the Hindus, and some had also stepped on it.
Photographs were splashed on the Internet but not in the mainstream media. The newspapers also made no mention of the cow's head in their reports yesterday.
The temple, which now stands in Section 19, was built 150 years ago within an estate. That was later turned into a Malay-majority housing area.
Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad, from the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) alliance, had previously explained that the temple is to be moved because the Muslims complained that it is just metres from their homes.
The new site will be at least 200m from the houses. But the protesters who gathered with the severed cow's head claimed that it would still be within a Muslim-majority area.
The protest had triggered outrage from Muslims and non-Muslims. Many Muslims had flooded the Internet with angry comments, saying that the act was against Islamic teachings.
Read the full story in The Sunday Times today.
http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNew...ory_423220.html
Selangor officials to hold talks with residents; MB calls protest a deliberate attack on racial harmony
By Carolyn Hong, Malaysia Bureau Chief
KUALA LUMPUR - AS MALAYSIANS continue to angrily condemn Friday's provocative protest over the building of a Hindu temple, the Selangor government has promised to meet Muslim residents of the area to hear their complaints.
In an attempt to cool temperatures, Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim yesterday directed the Shah Alam city hall to hold an open discussion this week with the 'real residents' of the neighbourhood where the temple is to be built.
'This is not just to listen to their grievances, but also to allow the state government to explain the real facts for relocating the temple from Section 19 to Section 23,' he said in a statement yesterday.
He urged the people to remain calm, and called the protest a deliberate provocation to undermine racial harmony and political stability.
The protesters had brought the severed head of a cow, a sacred animal to the Hindus, and some had also stepped on it.
Photographs were splashed on the Internet but not in the mainstream media. The newspapers also made no mention of the cow's head in their reports yesterday.
The temple, which now stands in Section 19, was built 150 years ago within an estate. That was later turned into a Malay-majority housing area.
Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad, from the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) alliance, had previously explained that the temple is to be moved because the Muslims complained that it is just metres from their homes.
The new site will be at least 200m from the houses. But the protesters who gathered with the severed cow's head claimed that it would still be within a Muslim-majority area.
The protest had triggered outrage from Muslims and non-Muslims. Many Muslims had flooded the Internet with angry comments, saying that the act was against Islamic teachings.
Read the full story in The Sunday Times today.
http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNew...ory_423220.html