Selangor bows to pressure from protesting residents
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(KUALA LUMPUR) A Malaysian state government searched for a new site for a Hindu temple yesterday, bowing to pressure from Muslim residents who staged a gruesome protest against its planned construction that triggered debate about religious intolerance.
Authorities in central Selangor state tried to reach a compromise in talks on Saturday with residents of the Muslim-majority neighbourhood in the state capital, Shah Alam, where the temple was to be built.
The meeting descended into chaos when protesters shouted insults at Selangor Chief Minister Abdul Khalid Ibrahim and other lawmakers, according to a video of the meeting posted on Malaysiakini, an independent news website.
The protesters insisted the temple would be too close to their homes and could generate excessive noise and traffic, which would disrupt their concentration during Muslim prayers.
Mr Abdul Khalid said that officials would postpone the building of the temple and look for an alternative location in the city 'in order not to create any adverse reaction and misunderstanding'.
Dozens of Muslims marched with a bloodied cow head in Selangor on Aug 28 to denounce the proposed temple.
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Many Malaysians, including Muslims, criticised the protesters for showing disrespect to Hindus - who consider cows sacred - and stoking racial tension between the Malay Muslim majority and Chinese and Indian minorities who are mostly Buddhist, Christian or Hindu.
The Muslim residents' complaints underscore long-standing frustrations among religious minorities about strict guidelines that restrict the number of non-Muslim places of worship, partly based on whether there are sufficient people of that faith living in an area.
A group of ethnic Indian Hindus holding candles and roses sought to stage a vigil in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday to condemn racial intolerance, but police arrested 16 for holding an unauthorised demonstration, said city police chief Muhammad Sabtu Osman.
The arrests drew criticism from Indian community leaders who said that it was a mark of double standards because police did not arrest any of the Muslims who paraded with the severed cow head last month.
Police said that they are still investigating last month's march and have pledged to take action against those involved.
Government officials attempting to defuse public anger over the incident met the editor of Malaysiakini on Saturday to ask him to remove a video of the protest from the website.
Malaysiakini has refused, saying that it is simply fulfilling its responsibilities by reporting the news. -- AP
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