Plight of Indians: Pakatan states slammed for inaction
By B Nantha Kumar
In a memorandum sent to PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim, PAS chief Hadi Abdul Awang and DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng, the party urged the opposition leaders to look into and resolve all long-standing state government land issues.
HRP also blamed the Selangor government for being the root cause of an incident in Puchong yesterday when a Hindu devotee set himself on fire to stop the demolition of two wooden structures belonging to a Hindu temple by the Subang Jaya Municipal Council.
Hindraf reminded the opposition parties that they were ruling the states because of strong Indian support during the 2008 general election and that they, at the time, had promised change.
"But change has not been forthcoming despite PKR, DAP and PAS ruling Selangor, Penang and Kedah for over 2 ½ years now," the party said in the memorandum furnished to FMT.
HRP said the incident yesterday in Puchong could have been avoided if only the state government had agreed to give a vacant state land for the construction of the Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple.
"But as usual only a temporary, piecemeal solution to temporarily relocate part of the temple to a state government reserve land next to this temple has been suggested and that too by a mere PKR councillor dispatched to the scene by the Selangor menteri besar.
'If the Selangor government had relocated part of the Hindu temple to the reserved state land and granted land title, there would be no necessity for the demolition and self-immolation," the party added in the memorandum.
Man still in critical condition
Meanwhile, the man who torched himself in an effort to save the temple is still in critical condiction.
M Gunasegaran,52, who is also known as “Chakra Guna”, suffered 80% burns and has been transferred to the Kuala Lumpur Hospital from the Serdang Hospital.
His brother, M Alagendren, said Gunasegaran was transferred to the Kuala Lumpur Hospital because the Serdang Hospital lacked equipment for treating severe burns.
"We are very concerned about his condition. We are also shocked at the incident," he told FMT.
Gunasegaran, who is also Puchong division MIC information chief, tried to stop the demolition of the temple and a wooden store room beside it by climbing onto the store and setting himself on fire after some enforcement officers tried to tear down the structure.
He is married and has six children.
Also read:
Man sets himself on fire to stop demolition
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