Unruly crowd not locals, former Seafield temple committee chief says

The unruly crowd outside the Sri Maha Mariamman temple in Subang Jaya in the wee hours today were not locals, a former temple committee chief said.

M Nagaraju added that the crowd refused to listen to instructions.

"We tried to advise them, but they refused to listen to us.

"We understand their anger, but this is not the way to react," he said.

The thousand-strong crowd had torched the wreckage of two cars and a factory, while also attacking a fire truck responding to the blaze. 

Some 300 then marched to the nearby One City mall complex, and attacked the office of the developer which owns the land the temple is on.

At least one other car was also damaged by rioters.

Devotees had gathered outside the temple in USJ25 for a second night to protect it from demolition.

Yesterday, they were accosted by some 50 men according to police, leading to violent scuffles.

The temple was supposed to have been relocated on Nov 22.

Plans to relocate the temple have been ongoing since 2007, after the land it is located on was purchased by One City Development Sdn Bhd.

In 2014, a consent judgment was entered into in court, where One City and two rival camps vying for control of the temple agreed to relocate it to a plot of land three kilometres away.

One City had also donated RM1.5 million to the temple as part of the settlement agreement.

However, devotees have continued to resist efforts to relocate the temple, which was built in 1891.

Source : https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/453546

It was not a racial clash - temple priest calls for calm

The fracas at the Sri Maha Mariamman temple in Subang Jaya this morning was not a racial clash, said the temple's priest S Jayakumar (above).

"I appeal to all quarters, including Hindus in Malaysia, to be patient and not make provocative statements on social media.

"I wish to stress it was not a racial riot but the cruel action of those who want to demolish this temple," he told Malaysiakini.

As for the two intruders who were injured, Jayakumar said this happened when the pair angered the devotees in the temple.

"One of them stepped on a statue while another damaged a lamp with a parang. These were the two who were assaulted," he claimed.

Meanwhile, K Selvam (photo), one of those held at knifepoint by the intruders, claimed that the latter was acting on orders from outsiders.

"The person leading the group was repeatedly calling someone to explain what was happening and to receive new instructions.

"To my knowledge, they took five of us hostage to move the statues. However, this failed when the temple people retaliated," he told Malaysiakini.

Selvam claimed that he also saw a parking card from a firm implicated in the incident.

Earlier, MIC president SA Vigneswaran visited the temple and donated RM20,000. He also said the incident should not be politicised.

As of 5pm, there were still some 500 people at the temple grounds.

A Subang resident, who wished to be identified only as Nathan, said he has been at the temple since 7am to show his support.

Source :https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/453515

Cops: Seafield temple fights erupted after group of 50 accosted devotees

The fighting at the Seafield Sri Maha Mariamman Temple in USJ 25, Subang Jaya earlier this morning erupted after a heated exchange between devotees and a group of 50 people, police said.

"Our initial findings found that there were 50 men (of other races) in the temple compound, while there were a group of Indians monitoring the area outside the temple gate.

"The two groups traded insults and dares, after which there was a clash between the two sides," Selangor police chief Mazlan Mansor said at a press conference today.

He said after the clashes the group of 50 fled from the temple. Two of them were injured.

In the scuffles, he said 18 vehicles, including two motorbikes, were also torched. However, damage at the temple was minimal, he said.

Mazlan said police also found weapons, including machetes, at the scene.

"I warn everyone to be calm, and leave this matter to the police.

"Don't take the law into your own hands. We are here to protect the situation," he said. As of noon, seven suspects have been arrested in connection with the incident, he added. 

According to Mazlan, 738 Federal Reserve Unit officers were dispatched to the scene after police were alerted to the fighting, and the case is being investigated for trespassing, rioting and treachery.

Mazlan added it was too early to say what the motive of the men intruding the temple was.

Probe for racial provocation

Meanwhile, a Selangor state executive councillor called on police to investigate an alleged attempt to create racial tensions in the temple flare-up.

"The attack by a group of gangsters shows there are attempts to create disharmony among the races who have been living peacefully all these while," V Ganabatirau, the Selangor Socio-Economic Empowerment and Development and Caring Government Committee Exco member said in a statement today.

"I urge police to investigate thoroughly on this incident and provide necessary protection to the civilians in accordance with Article 11 of our Constitution," he added.

Article 11 enshrines freedom of religion in Malaysia.

Devotees had reportedly gathered at the temple to protect it from demolition when they were met by the outside group.

The temple was supposed to have been relocated on Nov 22.

Plans to relocate the temple have been ongoing since 2007, after the land it is located on was purchased by One City Development Sdn Bhd.

In 2014, a consent judgment was entered into in court, where One City and two rival camps vying for control of the temple agreed to relocate it to a plot of land three kilometres away.

One City had also donated RM1.5 million to the temple as part of the settlement agreement.

However, devotees have continued to resist efforts to relocate the temple, which was built in 1891.

Source : https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/453447

'Intruders held temple chairperson, four others at knifepoint'

The group that attacked the Sri Maha Mariamman temple in Subang Jaya held several temple committee members, including its chairperson, as hostages, alleged a spokesperson for the committee.

Elangovan Annamalai told Malaysiakini that some 200 people were involved in the incident. Police, however, estimated the number to be around 50.

"The incident happened at about 2.10am. The intruders entered the temple grounds and hurt the devotees who were spending the night there.

"They claimed that the land (belonged to the developer) and demanded that we leave.

"They held five committee members hostage, including our chairperson (who is only known as) Ramaji. They held a parang to his neck," claimed Elangovan.

Malaysiakini has contacted the developer in question for comment.

The spokesperson alleged that the police only arrived at 4.30am and did not act until another group of devotees tried to chase out the intruders.

"We are disappointed (with the police). They were not fair. We have the video recordings to back our claim," he said.

Elangovan also refuted suggestions that the fracas involved two Indian groups.

He said many of the intruders had dropped their personal possessions during the clash and he could, therefore, prove that the group was made up of other races.

Two individuals were seriously injured during the fracas and 18 vehicles were torched.

Initially, the police claimed that the violence stemmed from a misunderstanding involving two groups. However, the police later identified who the assailants were.

Damage to the temple itself, according to the police, was minimal. The police said they also found weapons at the scene.

Source : https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/453455

Temple politics threatening to derail relocation agreed on 4 years ago

SUBANG JAYA: A developer that owns a plot of land occupied by a Hindu temple in a corner of Subang Jaya is now in a fix, as an internal dispute between two parties in the temple is threatening a deviation from a court’s consent order requiring them to relocate.

The Sri Maha Mariamman temple in Seafield, USJ 25, is due for relocation as part of a win-win court solution.

Now, one of the parties to the case is refusing to abide by the relocation order recorded in the High Court in 2014.


One City Development, the company which owns the private land, said it hoped to see a peaceful conclusion to the issue.

“We have done everything we can to make sure everyone is happy and we just want to move on,” its director Yaw Sheng Fung told FMT.

Besides One City, the case involved the Selangor state government and two claimants to the temple management, K Chellappa and M Nagaraju, who eventually agreed to hand back the land to One City after the company agreed to donate RM1.5 million to build a new temple on a nearby plot.

Chellappa and Nagaraju had earlier been locked in another court battle over control of the temple.
Chellappa was subsequently declared the lawful party to manage the temple. However, Nagaraju has refused to comply with the court order.

Yaw said his company had spared no expense to ensure a peaceful resolution.

Initially, the temple was to be relocated to a small plot of land measuring 15,000 sq ft at USJ 25, but the temple management later decided it was better to move to a bigger plot of land in USJ 23, measuring over one acre.

The temple agreed to give up its rights to the plot of land in USJ 25 in exchange for an extra RM1 million given by One City for the benefit of the temple.

“I believe we have done everything by the book and have been considerate and fair to all parties. We complied with all legal processes, we engaged all the stakeholders from the temple management to the authorities, we have done our best to facilitate the relocation of the temple,” said Yaw.


It was previously reported that a tense standoff over the relocation of the temple on Oct 26 had been diffused after One City agreed to postpone the relocation to a later date.


Source : https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2018/11/12/temple-politics-threatening-to-derail-relocation-agreed-on-4-years-ago/

Temple relocation on court orders - Ganabatirau

The Selangor government never ordered the demolition of the Seafield Sri Maha Mariamman Temple in USJ 25, Subang Jaya.

In saying this, V Ganabatirau, who is the chairperson of the State Socio-Economic Empowerment and Development and Caring Government Committee, said four parties, through a consent judgment on March 11, 2014, at the Shah Alam High Court, agreed to the relocation of the temple and return the present temple site vacant to the owner.

The four parties are the state government; owner of the temple site One City Development Sdn Bhd and two individuals claiming to be the temple administrators K. Chellappa and M. Nagaraju, he said.

Chellappa had filed an objection to the move by One City to take back the temple site in 1996.

Ganabatirau (right) said that in the consent judgment, One City agreed to deposit RM1.5 million with the temple, and it is learned that the money was deposited with the temple lawyer.

The state government then handed over a 0.4-hectare piece of land, located about three kilometres away, for the relocation of the temple, he said at a press conference in Shah Alam today.

Ganabatirau said he believes that the relocation of the temple was politicised by some irresponsible people when the court decided that Chellappa is the valid administrator of the temple.

This decision was not agreed to by Nagaraju who objected to the relocation of the temple and alleged that the state government had ordered the demolition of the house of worship, he said.

“This is not true because the order to relocate the temple came from the court and the state government has to abide by the order,” he said.

Source - Bernama

Seafield temple demolition postponed again, following fresh protests

The demolition of the Seafield Sri Maha Mariamman Temple in USJ 25, Subang Jaya, has been put off yet again, following fresh protests by devotees.

At the crack of dawn, dozens of devotees started converging at the temple's compound, after receiving social media messages that the temple was going to be demolished.

More than 100 policemen, including Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) personnel, were also present at the location, after One City Development Sdn Bhd, which owns the land housing the purportedly 147-year-old temple, made preparations to demolish it.

However, the landowner agreed to postpone the demolition to Nov 22, after deliberating for more than two hours with the temple management and the Malaysia Hindu Sangam. Deputy Rural Development Minister R Sivarasa, as well as Senator T Mohan and Sentosa assemblyperson Gunaraj George, were also present.

"After discussions, the developer (One City) has agreed to postpone the demolition until Nov 22. I, together with Gunaraj, as representatives of the Pakatan Harapan (government), will also arrange a meeting with Selangor Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari before Nov 22," he told the devotees after the negotiations.

Sivarasa also confirmed that the temple’s management will henceforth, be taken over by a special task force, led by Hindraf activist "Ramaji", whose real name is M Ramachandran.

"After this, all decisions concerning to the temple will be made by the task force," added Sivarasa.

The temple is purported to have been constructed by Indian estate workers back in 1891, and a fig tree – considered sacred to Hindus – at the location, is said to be at least 147 years old.

The land housing the temple was, however, was bought over by One City Development in 2007.

In a statement, two days ago, the temple management's committee president KK Chellapa said that a bigger plot of land in USJ23 had been allocated to relocate the temple, and that One City had agreed to allocate RM1.5 million to rebuild it.

Chellapa said that in a consent judgment in 2014, all stakeholders, including rival claimant to the post of temple committee chief, M Nagaraj, had agreed for the temple to be relocated.

However, Nagaraj is currently on a hunger strike, claiming his grandfather had built the temple structure then, and several Indian NGOs have backed up his cause in calling for the temple to stay at its current location.

They have called on the state government to step in and save the temple, on a historical and religious basis.

Earlier today, the devotees fumed at Indian leaders, namely four ministers (Gobind Singh Deo, P Waythamoorthy, Dr Xavier Jeyakumar, and M Kulasegaran) and Selangor exco V Ganabathirau, for allegedly not speaking up in the matter.

The situation also became tense when several individuals in the group started accusing Chellapa of being a sell-out.

Speaking to the devotees later, Ramaji stressed that the task force will never ever give in.

"I would like to stress that we will never move out from here. Whatever happens, we will defend the temple," he said to applause from the crowd.

Source :https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/448990