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Published: Tuesday September 8, 2009 MYT 12:02:00 PM
Updated: Tuesday September 8, 2009 MYT 12:54:14 PM

Cow head protest: A-G’s decision lauded (Update)


PETALING JAYA: The MCA has lauded the Attorney-General’s decision to charge protesters responsible for bringing a cow’s head to a controversial demonstration over the relocation of a Hindu temple to Section 23, Shah Alam.

Party spokesman Lee Wei Kiat said the decision by the A-G’s Chambers was a positive move towards restoring civility in an otherwise simmering situation in Section 23.

“It indicates the A-G’s Chambers, as a public body, is impartial ... when the laws of the land are broken,” he said in a statement here Tuesday.

He said it was incumbent that the A-G’s Chambers and police implement the rule of law irrespective of the protestors’ political afflication.

In the Aug 28 incident, the protestors had dragged the decapitated head of a cow, then stamped and spat on it. The cow is considered sacred by Hindus.

Lee said public confidence in enforcement agencies is undermined and the perception of selective prosecution emerged if no further action was taken against one group whose actions were tantamount to inciting racial disharmony.

“While protestors can have ideals they hold on to, at no time whatsoever should public assemblies or closed-door dialogues be allowed to be turned into launchpads of war cries which threaten public order and lives or instigate carnage,” he said.

He said the MCA also called for a mature dialogue between the parties involved in the matter.

“Matters are more easily resolved amicably when people of divergent views sit down and talk rationally to work towards a common solution that is acceptable to both parties,” he said.

Last Saturday, residents from Section 23 turned rowdy at an emotionally-charged dialogue with the Selangor government.

The dialogue was intended to clear doubts and explain to the resident the proposed relocation of the Hindu temple from Section 19 to Section 23.

However, the situation turned tense when some of the participants became disruptive.

The MCA Non-government Organisation Liaison Bureau also lauded the A-G’s decision.

Bureau chairman Datuk Ti Lian Ker said the Aug 28 incident went against the Malaysian political culture of consensus building in a legal and peaceful manner.

“We hope that the decision to charge these illegal demonstrators and those who had inflamed religious and racial sentiments will be consistent and without regard of their political support or affiliations so that the rule of law prevails,” he said in a statement Tuesday.

Ti said the police and the A-G should also charge residents who “committed criminal assault and battery” against Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim and Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad in last Saturday’s dialogue.

“Both are elected representatives of the people. The uncouth mob behaviour displayed by several residents -- such as carrying a chair in a display of violence to an elected official -- must not be allowed or encouraged,” he said.

Ti said that actions like street protests against the teaching of Science and Mathematics in English was a form of political blackmail by an “aggressive minority against the political will and desire of the silent majority.”

“Of late, we have seen Malaysians developing a tendency to resort to mob antics and violence to express themselves.

“This trend of violence in whatever name must be stopped and there should no justification given. An offence is still an offence,” he said.

Related Stories:
Protesters to be charged with sedition and illegal assembly
New site for Hindu temple in Shah Alam
Residents refuse to listen to MB; temple relocation plan shelved temporarily (Updated)
PM: Don’t slur others

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