Kuala Lumpur: Malaysian authorities have suspended the proposed relocation of a 150-year-old Hindu temple to a Muslim-Malay dominated area after a meeting to persuade the local residents turned chaotic.
Chief Minister Abdul Khalid Ibrahim of Selangor state on Saturday said the relocation would be put on hold until a different site was found, Straits Times said on Sunday.
The move turned controversial after locals protesting the relocation to the Muslim-dominated area held rally displaying a severed cow head - animal sacred to the Hindus.
The cow head was stamped and spat upon in a clear provocation to the Hindus during the rally.
The decision came after a two-hour session with 211 residents of Taman Ixora in Section 23 locality, where the Sri Maha Mariamman temple from Section 19 was due to be relocated.
The session started with booing and insults directed at the state government and its representatives.
P Uthayakumar, a leader of the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf), a banned outfit, his wife Indradevi and 13 others were arrested when they marched in protest here on Saturday.
The decision to suspend the relocation came after a week of appeals by Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and other leaders urging Muslims to eschew provocative acts, especially during the holy Ramzan.
Hindus form a bulk of the ethnic Indian community of about two million that forms eight percent of Malaysia`s multi-racial population of 28 million.
IANS
