PETALING JAYA, MALAYSIA, November 21, 2018 (Free Malaysia Today): The Malaysia Hindu Sangam has praised the way in which the Sri Maha Mariamman Temple’s relocation in Seafield, Subang Jaya was handled, saying it can serve as a template for future land disputes involving religious buildings. Speaking to FMT, Hindu Sangam president RS Mohan Shan said it had been involved in the dispute over the Sri Maha Mariamman temple for more than 20 years, engaging all parties involved in that period. “Initially, we wanted the temple to remain where it was, but after the matter went to court and a consent judgment was reached, we agreed to the relocation. “This is because in the consent judgment, the developer, One City Development Sdn Bhd, would provide a proper place for the temple to be relocated to, and fair compensation. The new temple site would also be gazetted as a place of worship. We feel this is fair.”
The relocation of the temple is part of a win-win 2014 court solution, involving One City, the Selangor state government and two claimants to the temple management, K. Chellappa and M. Nagaraju. Now, some NGOs and MIC want the government to intervene and stop the relocation. A protest outside Parliament is set to be held today, on the matter. Mohan Shan said as far as Hindu Sangam was concerned, it did not care about personal agendas but supported the relocation because it believed it was the best thing to do. He added that Hindu Sangam, which is a member of the Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism, had also requested the developer to allow for the relocation of the temple to be done in accordance with Hindu rituals, to which it had agreed.