23-05-2025
- Politics
- Free Malaysia Today
Get govt bodies to ditch ‘illegal temple' term, Saravanan tells Anwar
MIC deputy president M Saravanan said the government should not overlook the historical facts surrounding the establishment of Hindu temples in Malaysia.
PETALING JAYA : MIC deputy president M Saravanan has asked Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to issue a directive to government agencies and departments to refrain from using the term 'illegal temple'.
In a letter to Anwar, the Tapah MP said the government should not overlook the historical facts surrounding the establishment of Hindu temples in Malaysia, many of which received approval from colonial authorities and local administrators.
Saravanan said many Hindu temples in Malaysia had existed long before the National Land Code 1965, and that labelling them 'illegal' was offensive to Hindu devotees.
'The majority of temples were established during the British and Japanese colonial periods,' Saravanan said in the letter.
'Historically, early labourers built places of worship at their places of work. Following the fragmentation of estates, these temples came under the supervision of the local communities.
'Previously, these temples were located on the outskirts of towns or in rural areas. However, due to urbanisation, many of these temples now appear to be located within towns.
'In this context, I appeal to the prime minister to instruct government agencies and departments not to use the term 'illegal temple'.'
Saravanan's appeal to Anwar was in response to a letter from the Taiping Hospital management stating that it would take the appropriate legal action against an 'illegal' Hindu temple on its premises.
Land rights for old Hindu temples became a controversial topic following the public backlash to plans to relocate the Dewi Sri Pathrakaliamman Temple in Kuala Lumpur to make way for the construction of the Madani Mosque.
The government later revealed that the 130-year-old temple had agreed to relocate to another plot 50m from its current site, which Anwar called a 'win-win solution'.
Last month, Urimai deputy chairman David Marshel called on the government to work with Google to remove the 'illegal temple' label which appears alongside Hindu temples found on Google Maps.
Earlier this month, deputy inspector-general of police Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay said police were investigating the labelling of Hindu temples as illegal on Google Maps and Waze for the abuse of network facilities under the Communications and Multimedia Act.
The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission previously summoned the administrator of a Facebook group dedicated to finding allegedly illegal temples nationwide.
