Anjulie Ngan
April 27, 2014
Rajiv Rishyakaran reaffirms that he is fully committed to carrying out his duties as a state assemblyman without fear or favour.
PETALING JAYA: Selangor state assemblyman Rajiv Rishyakaran pleads to Hindu Sangam to organize a religious discussion between temple officials and the disabled community to reach an amicable solution.
“I urge and plead with the Hindu Sangam to step up to their duty as the representatives of Malaysian Hindus and help organize a theological discussion between both parties so that a solution can be reached,” Rajiv said.
He explained that the discussion will certainly clear up the lingering matters that both the disabled community and the temple officials are dealing with.
“They should have a calm and rational dialogue taking into account different issues or ideas and come to a respectful resolution,” he added.
Rajiv said this in response to the Disabled Persons Association Of Selangor & Wilayah Persekutuan’s (Damai) peaceful protest yesterday morning at the foothills of the Bukit Gasing Sivan temple which ended with verbal arguments between them and the temple president.
“This is a sensitive issue. Government officials should not dictate how a religious body conducts its business. It will lead to all sorts of problems.
“This is an issue which must be solved within the community itself,” he pointed out.
Rajiv also urged other temple associations to weigh in on the matter.
“It is best to have other temples engage the Bukit Gasing Sivan temple so that an exchange of ideas and solutions can come to pass,” he proposed.
Meanwhile, Rajiv further said that he was in touch with the temple and that this issue must be solved within the community.
“I am in touch with the temple and that this is an issue which must be solved within the community itself and that other temple associations ought to weigh in and assist in the matter.
Rajiv gave assurance that he is fully committed to carrying out his duties as a state assemblyman without fear or favour.
Editor’s note: The original headline ‘Sivan temple: Assemblyman fears ISA’ has been changed to the present headline following Rajiv’s clarification that he had not expressively mentioned the ISA in his comments to FMT. The first headline was an interpretation of the context of what he had said about the Teresa Kok-azanincident. We regret for the inconvenience caused.
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