Saturday, September 25, 2010

Padang Jawa Hindu Temple: No Gazette number or date gazetted on sign board unveiled, under hazardous Telecoms Tower. No PKR Selangor state government land for all 2,540 hindu temples all in one go.

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No.6, Jalan Abdullah, Off Jalan Bangsar, 59000 Kuala Lumpur. Tel : 03-2282 5241
Fax : 03-2282 5241 Fax: 03-2282 5245
Website: www.humanrightspartymalaysia.com E-mail: info@humanrightspartymalaysia.com

Your Reference :
In Reply :
Date : 24th September 2010
YAB Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim, Menteri Besar Selangor,
Pejabat Menteri Besar Selangor, Tingkat 21, Bangunan Sultan Salahuddin, Abdul Aziz Shah,
Shah Alam, Selangor                                                                                                                      By fax No: 03-5519 0032 40503 . E-Mail : khalid@selangor.gov.my
Re: No Gazette number or date gazetted on sign board unveiled, under hazardous Telecoms Tower. Selangor state government land for all 2,540 hindu temples in Selangor all in one go.
We refer to the above matter and to the newsreports in Malaysia Nanban 23/9/10 at page 13, Makkal Osai 23/9/10 at page 9 and also in Sinar Harian 22/9/10 at page S5, and The Star 23/9/10 at page N48.
We regret to bring to your goodselves attention that despite the Selangor state government publicising the unveiling of the official signboard gazetting the Padang Jawa Kuil Sri Maha Mariamman, the gazette number and the date the same was gazetted was “conveniently” missing. 003
We regret to note that despite three years of PKR ruling Selangor, it is only now that the signboard has been unveiled and a mere “kosong” promise of RM300,000.00 to rebuild this hindu temple. Maybe we should not be surprised as one political analyst defined politics as making “empty” promises and creating “false” perceptions.
009Kindly let us have the gazette number, the date the same was gazetted and whether the land title has been issued in the name of this hindu temple trustees names, so as not to create the perception that this is merely an empty “kosong” political statement.
Further it has been acknowledged by the Selangor state government that there are 2,540 hindu temples in Selangor (TN 12/9/10 at page 1) and that 95 places of worship for non muslims have been granted land titles (SH 22/9/10 at page S5).
We would like to have a list of all these 2,540 hindu temples together with details of how many of these hindu temples have been granted land by the Selangor state government, the date it was gazetted, whether the titles thereto had been issued and if so whether the titles have been issued under the names of the respective temple trustees names and other relevant details. We would also appreciate photocopies of all these land titles issued, their gazette numbers and the date the same was gazetted together with the gazette notice.
In any event we regret to note that after all the atrocities committed by the previous state government on this Padang Jawa Hindu Temple and demolishing the 96 hindu temples in Selangor, “ethnically cleansing” and wiping out their 200 over year old history and heritage in Selangor. And with 90% of the Malaysian Indians having voted PKR, DAP and PAS to power to be able to form the Selangor state government they are now only granted this raw and piecemeal deal a la UMNO. Note: (One Hindu temple demolished every week nationwide. Between 2004 to 2007, 96 hindu temples were demolished in Selangor at an average of one hindu temple in every ten days.(TN 30/10/08 at page 3).
In fact it is rather insulting that the land this hindu temple has been granted is on a mere 15,000 square feet of land which is just over one quarter acre of land and that too below a health hazardous Telecoms Tower if not on the Telecoms Towers reserve land and endangering the lives of especially the hindu priest and the regular hindu devotees thereto.
From our records forcing a place of worship under a Telecoms tower has never been done before to any Masjids, Suraus, Chinese temples or churches or any other place of worship even in any other part of the world let alone in the world’s cruelest dictatorship regimes. Why are the Hindu temples singled out in Selangor and in Malay-sia? Indians soft targets? The poor and politically powerless Indians are easy to bully?100_2056
For and on behalf of the estimated half a million Indian community in Selangor we hereby apply for another suitable five (5) acre piece of land for this Padang Jawa hindu temple within two (2) weeks from the date hereof at the very least to undo the injustices that has happened to this hindu temple, if not to the hundreds of hindu temples that has been demolished and “ethnically cleansed” in Selangor. This new five (5) acre land is necessary to rebuild a proper hindu temple, a jasmine and other flower garden, a wedding hall, a community hall, a community centre to serve the neighbouring poor Indian community, a car park and land for future temple development which is to be planted with coconut trees and banana plants sacred to the hindus in the interim. This could serve as Selangor’s model hindu temple and which could become Selangor’s “Batu Caves” and also a prime tourist attraction. 100_2039
We also ask your goodself to grant land to all 2,540 hindu temples in Selangor all in one go and gazette the same accordingly under the name of the respective hindu temple trustees and not the usual kosong wayang kulit “PPP” peanuts political propoganda especially in the Tamil dailies by your Selangor Indian Exco mandore.
Kindly revert to us accordingly.
Thank You.
Yours Faithfully,
______________
P.Uthayakumar
Secretary General (pro – tem)
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Relief for 10 caught in conversion turmoil

(Malaysiakini) The Human Rights Party (HRP) claims it has achieved its aim of upholding the constitutional right for freedom of religion, in bringing relief to 10 Indian Malaysians caught in conversion turmoil for years.

NONEThe 10 victims of alleged forced conversions are from the three families -- Rajina a/p Krishnan, Rani a/p Kandasamy and Banggarma a/p Subramaniam (left).

On Tuesday, HRP central committee member S Thiagarajan took them to the National Registration Department (NRD) headquarters in Putrajaya to iron out the long outstanding issue with seven NRD officers.

According to him, it took over eight hours of persuasion and reasoning with the NRD officers headed by NRD's births, deaths and adoptions deputy director I Azliza Shaharudin to complete this application process for change of name.

Initially, HRP encountered resistance from Azliza who after perusal of the documents, rejected the applications on the grounds that these three cases should be brought to the Syariah Court for the change of name and religion to Hindu.

After obtaining the Syariah Court order, only then should come back to the NRD, she had said.

Constitutional aspects discussed

But HRP instead briefed Azliza and her officers on the constitutional and legal aspects as well as the United Nations (UN) International Covenant provisions that reads:
  • HRP, converts with officer - HRP, converts meeting with NRDBy virtue of Section 6 of the Registration of Births and Deaths (Special Provisions) Act 1975 “A registrar (of births) shall record such particulars as may be prescribed in a report book in the prescribed form concerning any birth or death given to him by any person qualified to do so;
  • Article 11 of the federal constitution (freedom of religion) and 11(1) that says “every person has the right to profess and practice his religion and to propagate it”;
  • The federal constitution is the highest law of the country and is above all other laws, with no disrespect including Islamic laws which are only subsidiary to the federal constitution;
  • Article 14 of the federal constitution read with Part II of the Second Schedule provides for citizenship by “operation of law” and “for every person born within the federation of whose parents one at least is at the time of birth either a citizen or permanently resident in the federation;
  • Article 7 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (that Malaysia ratified in 1995) provides, “The child shall be registered immediately after birth and shall have the right from birth to a name, the right to acquire a nationality and as far as possible, the right to know and be cared for by his or her parents”; and,
  • It also states that parties shall ensure the implementation of these rights in accordance with their national law and their obligations under the relevant international instruments in this field, in particular where the child would otherwise be stateless.
After HRP's briefing on the six rights, Azliza called the respective NRD officers to look into the various conversion cases.

Rajina's two-year-old son Tinesh had no birth certificate, since the NRD office in Johor had at the birth of her son refused to include the name of his natural father Mahendran a/l Habimanan and his religion as Hindu in the certificate.

Then for Banggarma's two children, Hisyanthini and Kanagaraj, application forms were sought to change their religious status to Hindu and include their father's name Sockalingam a/l Suppiah in their birth certificates, which column had been filled up with the words “Maklumat Tidak Diperolehi” (details not available).

Thiagarajan had also questioned Azliza as to how this could happen when the mother had confirmed that Sockalingam is the natural father, pointing out that this is in contravention of Section 5(1)(a) and (b) of the Registration of Births and Deaths Act 1975.

Rani had been told that the amendments she sought in the birth certificates of her children could not be carried out as they issued only once in their life time and remain the history of their birth.

The application to change the name and the status from Islam to Hindu was rejected by virtue of Section 15(1) of the Registration Births and Deaths Act 1975.

'NRD must be independent'

However, HRP informed the families that they could use Section 27(3) of the same Act to make corrections to the name and their religious status.

Rani and others with officer - HRP, converts meeting with NRDThey proceeded to submit six applications for changes to the records.

This included the case of Rani's (far left in photo) elder daughter Vijaya Letchumy who has a Hindu name but whose religious status in the NRD computer system is Islam, a discrepancy that prevented her from registering her marriage to her Hindu husband Tamilarasan a/l M Rajendran.

According to Thiagarajan, the NRD officers had told them that they would revert to the applicants on the matter within two months.

HRP will be taking the second batch of ten stateless Malaysian Indians to see the NRD next week.

NONEEarlier on Aug 13, a HRP team led by pro-tem secretary-general P Uthayakumar (right) had initiated the groundwork with a three-hour meeting with births, deaths and adoptions director Mohd Azmin Hassan and 12 of his senior officers at their Putrajaya office.

At the meeting the HRP team had emphasised that NRD should act on an independent, non-racial and non-religious basis, in a move to eliminate statelessness and uphold the constitutional right to freedom of religion.