00:00M.I.C. Deputy President M. Sarawanan has again urged Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to issue a directive to government departments to refrain from using the term illegal temple.
00:14Speaking on the sidelines of a campaign event for the I.R. Kuning by-election, he said the matter does not need to go through the Cabinet, and the Prime Minister has the authority to issue the directive immediately.
00:27Government spokesman Fahmy Fazil said the Cabinet did not discuss the matter in its meeting yesterday.
00:34The TAPA MP had written a letter to Anwar saying Putrajaya should not overlook the historical facts surrounding the establishment of Hindu temples in Malaysia.
00:45He said many Hindu temples in the nation existed long before the National Land Code 1965 and that labeling them illegal was offensive to Hindu devotees.
00:56Sarawanan's appeal to Anwar was in response to a letter from the Taiping Hospital stating that it would take the appropriate legal action against an illegal Hindu temple on its premises.
