Until Hindu Temple demolishments stop there is no freedom and there is no equality
The first thing that needs to be done in order to find a robust solution is to accept that a problem exists. Any argument that tries to deny the existence of the problem or to talk down the problem by ridiculing it or by downplaying its significance has to be first stopped.
N. Ganesan, National Advisor to Hindraf
The demolishment of Hindu temples seem to be an ongoing saga. We thought the 2007 Hindraf Rally and the Tsunami of 2008 would have seen an end to such wanton abuse of power against the minority Indian poor in the country. But this seems not to be the case.
The most recent demolishment of the Glenmaries Mathuraiveeran Temple in Shah Alam, and at least three others before that in Selangor in the last two years, the near demolition of Sri Raja Muniswarar, in Jalan Tun Dr Ismail, Seremban in August this year and the current issuance of an eviction notice to the Sivasakthi Kuan Yin Temple in Bagan in Penang with the possibility of ultimate demolishment, are indications that the problem is rearing its ugly head again. It certainly has found no solution yet.
We have known for some time that the BN government does not have within its DNA to solve this problem at the root. We however expected that the Pakatan Governments in Selangor, Penang and Kedah to show more imagination and competence in dealing with these issues. This is not a simple issue, by any stretch of imagination. We expected them to have it within them to deal with this problem in more effective ways. But that seems not to be happening, with what we see in Selangor and Penang. The same careless approach of the BN is rearing its head again, in the Pakatan avatar too.
Simplistic approaches do not make for robust solutions
The BN and Pakatan Governments seem to take a very simplistic approach to this problem and want to wish the problem away. However there are fundamental issues of minority rights, of law, of morality and of the role of the State. In addition there are issues of history, traditions, ways of lives and allocation of the national resource involved. But all these seem not to be significant considerations by those in power. They seem to think them irrelevant because in their reckoning, the Indian poor do not count for much more than their votes.
The first thing that needs to be done in order to find a robust solution is to accept that a problem exists. Any argument that tries to deny the existence of the problem or to talk down the problem by ridiculing it or by downplaying its significance has to be first stopped. There needs to be an understanding that what is being destroyed is not just the structures and the idols of the deities that make the temple, but indeed a way of life of the poor and marginalized Indians.
What is being destroyed is a way of life, not just the temples
The Indian poor not only have to give up the structures and representations of god that make up the temple whenever the temple is demolished, they have to give up their community activities in and around this temple that forms a major part of their social lives, gathering in their small communities every so often for festivals, for marriages and for other religious events, to replenish their spirits and to lighten up their otherwise heavy lives.
When their temples are destroyed, they are forced to give up this way of life. Yet the destruction is necessary only to maximize the profits of the rich. These poor end up subsidizing the profit of the rich by having to give up their way of life. And that is a major problem. It is a major issue of their rights.
The next thing to do is to accept that the problem cannot be solved by using the same old methods and arguments of the BN government – demolish first then justify afterwards if needed. This is what we see happening in Selangor now, demolishment happens stealthily and then the State Government rushes to justify it with vexatious arguments. This is exactly the kind of thing BN used to do under Khir Toyo and Mahathir. They used to collude with their erstwhile Mandores in MIC. This is what we see happening in Selangor with the most recent demolishment of the Glenmarie Temple. There was the demolishment of the Sri Maha KaliammanTemple, Ampang on the 9th of September 2008, Muniswara Temple in Port Klang on the 11th of Aug 2010, then Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple on 8th of November 2010 and now the Mathurai Veeran Hindu Temple, Jalan Glenmarie in Shah Alam a few days ago.
Too many temples?
One argument used to justify the demolishment is that there are too many temples, and that that is the source of the problem. There are 2000 temples for about a half million Hindus in Selangor said the State Rep. What he was insinuating was that there are too many temples resulting from irresponsible and wanton building of temples. That there are these many temples bring out some useful history. These temples were the centre of communities. And the numbers of temples reflect the number of communities – rural Indian estate communities. These rural communities were effectively self contained Indian village communities tucked deep inside Malaysian rubber plantations.
The owners of plantations knew that they needed a self sustaining and self perpetuating pool of labour and they had to create such communities for the needs of their profits. Effectively the elite of the day created rural Indian villages in Malaya and with them, these temples on their land. These temples were not wantonly or irresponsibly built as the State rep would have us believe. They are a direct outcome of the history of the country and the hunger for profit by the elite.
And when Malaya became Malaysia and these plantations gave way to a variety of other development, and estates gave way to cities, this labour force became steadily superfluous. Disintegration of these rural communities began. This touched most of these several thousand communities all over the country and with them, their temples. The temples were all now sited illegally on someone else’s land, as the estates dispossessed these communities. The practice in these rural communities had always been that temples were on estate land – nobody in the community owned the land – the land was provided; anyway, they could not afford it. That is all still very true today – the poor and marginalized Indians cannot afford the land.
But the new rules required that they own the land. The fact that the temples served a necessary social function for the communities that had lived there for years and continue to serve did not seem to matter anymore. The rights to the religious practices of these people did not count in these changed circumstances. This is the unsaid part of the arguments of the politicians. The truism once more confirmed – the Indian poor mean nothing more to the politicians in Government other than their votes.
We demolish shrines, not temples – really?
Another argument often proferred is that the demolished structures are not temples but are just shrines – shrines built all over the place, under the trees, in god forsaken places and so on. And therefore what they are demolishing are not temples but just shrines. If these dimwits in Government had true knowledge they would immediately recognize that shrines are only the beginnings of temples. In the hearts of the people, shrine or temple, the belief is what draws them there and they represent the same religious significance to them. As more visit the shrine and the shrine gets drawn into the mainstream of society, the structures upgrade to reflect and support the increased traffic and morph to become temples, small at first and then bigger with time – along with other changes inside the temples. And it is also common knowledge that shrines begin mostly by trees.
So to imply that shrines by the trees are wanton religious practices on the basis of some alien understanding only demonstrates the ignorance and mischief in these arguments.
The wantonness of the Indian poor or the wantonness of the politicians?
All the nonsense that has occurred in demolishing temples must stop. It is necessary that some sense come into all of this. Temple demolishments only tugs at the core fabric of Malaysian society. It is not only a problem of the Indian poor, it is a problem of Malaysian society, as a whole. I do not know how many Malaysians have the courage to accept that this is really the case.
What the Governments in the States must now do is to stop the wayang and get down to brass tacks by addressing the problems. It is all a matter of political will. Do the governments have that political will to resolve this problem? Do they want to find a permanent solution to this problem or not.
And, they must stop the practice of giving excuses for not doing what is right. If the Indian poor are indeed sons and daughters of this soil, this will be a concrete opportunity to express that idea. Recognizing that these impoverished sons and daughters of the soil have these religious beliefs and practices, the Governments in the States need to intervene appropriately. The methods employed till now are just not cutting it. The simplistic approaches only result in continuing damage. There are far too many issues involved. This requires an informed solution.
Only when this happens will the saga of demolishments of temples stop – only then will true and free rights for religious beliefs and practices prevail.
