Hindu temple demolition destroyed BN's Indian support: Samy - NST

KUALA LUMPUR, Thurs:

The demolition of Hindu temples was the ‘atomic bomb’ that destroyed Indian support for Barisan Nasional in the March 8 general election, MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu said today. The BN paid the price for the rash actions of some leading to the Indian vote going largely to the opposition, he added.

The former Works Minister, an unexpected casualty of the political tsunami that swept parts of the nation during the polls, said the BN would have Indians support if it had addressed the issue of the temples properly.

He cited the demolition of a 36-year-old temple in Kg Karuppiah, Padang Jawa, by the Selangor government last October as the straw that broke the camel’s back.

“That one temple that was demolished in Padang Jawa became a big atomic bomb which chased away the Indian community. We blindly smashed the temples and we paid the price for it. If we had ‘jaga jaga’ (looked after) the temples, we would have won the Indian vote,’ he told reporters at MIC headquarters.

Samy Vellu had called for the Press conference to thank the Federal government for approving the renewal of work permits for 800 foreign priests for Gurdwaras (Sikh templeas) and Hindu temples.

Samy Vellu acknowledged, however, that the Selangor government later allocated a 10,000 sq ft piece of land in Shah Alam to rebuild the temple.

[More at http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Thursday/Frontpage/20080417162304/Article]