KUCHING, Dec 5: Sarawak United Peoples’ Party (SUPP) Stakan Branch views Pasir Salak MP Datuk Tajuddin Abdul Rahman’s statement equating holy ash used in Hinduism to former communist leader Chin Peng’s ashes as “disturbing and distasteful”.
Its secretary Sivanesan Sanmugalingam urged Tajuddin to apologise for the statement.
Describing the statement as offensive, Sivanesan asserted the statement or question posed by the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) MP in a recent parliamentary session was outrageous and totally disrespectful to the Hindu community in Malaysia.
“I myself am opposed to DAP (Democratic Action Party) in most matters of policy but in this case, as a fellow Hindu I am appalled that after all these years of living as Malaysians in harmony, this sort of ignorance is displayed in Parliament.
“I have no issue with Tajuddin’s wish to oppose the MP from Jelutong (RSN Rayer) but to make such an insolent remark equating our Hindu Holy Ash to that of the remains of a corpse is just disturbing, distasteful and a disgrace to all Malaysians.
“I urge him to apologise to all Hindus for this insensitive remark and I ask that all MPs to stick to politics without belittling any religion,” according to Sivanesan in a statement today.
He highlighted the situation in Sarawak where religious harmony is strong and thriving.
“I am so grateful that here in Sarawak, we don’t have these sorts of incidences. In fact here our government is helping us Hindus to grow our religion.”
Sivanesan urged Sarawakians to be aware of what happened in West Malaysia which in his opinion, is getting increasingly racially and religiously insensitive.
“It is really worrying to see all this happening on the eve of 2020. I feel that as a country we are regressing rather than progressing. Thank god our leadership in Sarawak really takes racial and religious harmony seriously,” he added.
On Tuesday (Dec 3), in a parliamentary debate, when Rayer was proposing that DAP supremo Lim Kiat Siang and the party’s late top leader Karpal Singh to be included in the contemporary history of Malaysia, Tajuddin interjected and asked if the ashes on Rayer’s forehead was Chin Peng’s ashes.
A big row ensued between the two which finally resulted in the suspension of Tajuddin and Kota Melaka MP Khoo Poay Teong for two days.
The Hindu holy ash is the ash of a special type of wood, made in a sacrificial fire, with ghee and other herbs as some of the ingredients. — DayakDaily
