KUALA LUMPUR — Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) could have handled land issues involving the 130-year old Dewi Sri Pathrakaliamman Temple in Jalan Masjid India here “better’, especially since there was a policy by the Federal Territories Ministry in 2012 to gazette non-Muslim houses of worship, said Datuk Seri M Saravanan.
Speaking to Scoop, the MIC deputy president, who was deputy federal territories minister at the time, said the policy stated that all places of worship in the federal territory must be gazetted, and this included the Pathrakaliamman temple.
Saravanan, who is also Tapah MP, addressed the view that DBKL which owned the land previously, had no obligation to inform the temple management committee of the land sale.
“DBKL acknowledged the existence of the temple. They’re fully aware. When they sell any land, DBKL should have written to them to inform them.
“When there is a tenant in your house (at a time) when you’re going to sell the house, don’t you think you have a moral obligation to inform the tenant: I’m going to sell the house?
“Or to offer to them, qre you interested in buying (the house)?” Saravanan told Scoop.
The temple is now on private land after DBKL sold the plot to a private company in 2014. The company, Jakel Trading Sdn Bhd has plans to build a mosque on the site.
This has stirred debate over the temple’s legality and raised anger over its potential demolition to make way for the mosque.
Jakel Trading is said to be exploring an alternative that includes acquiring another piece of adjacent land to have the mosque and temple exist side-by-side.
Saravanan reiterated to Scoop his remarks in a press conference on March 23 that the temple was not an illegal structure, and that DBKL had all along acknowledged its existence and operation by approving its utilities and also clearing land for it.
“This issue (involving temples and land) is not new. This kind of thing has happened so many times. The government (then) when I was deputy federal territories minister, made a policy decision not to demolish any temple, and (for such issues) should be handled with proper instructions.
“DBKL could have managed it better,” Saravanan said.
He also questioned why DBKL, which regularly handles squatters and illegal stalls in the city by relocating them to council flats and properly built hawker or trade centres, seemed to “ignore” temples, as no land has as yet been identified for the Pathrakaliamman temple’s relocation.
“DBKL cannot say that it’s none of my business. Or else, where would people go to pray? When you don’t allocate land (to devotees), of course, they will go for any vacant land and build a temple (there),” he added.
Lawyers representing the temple management committee Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan and N. Surendran said in a press conference on March 20 that DBKL did not inform the temple when it sold the land to Jakel Trading in 2014.
Today, the two lawyers issued another statement calling for the sales and purchase agreement for the sale by DBKL to be disclosed to the public as they believed the sales document contains information “relevant to the rights and status of the temple”.
Ambiga and Surendran added that they have good grounds to believe that the release of the agreement may substantially assist towards achieving a resolution for the land dispute, as well as ensuring public accountability and transparency with regard to sale of government land to a private entity.
Jakel Trading, meanwhile, has said the temple will not be demolished and is working towards a “win-win” solution.
Kuala Lumpur Mayor Datuk Seri Maimunah Mohd Sharif said that the temple could continue operating as usual until a decision is made on the relocation.
Various political leaders have weighed in on the issue, urging for calm and to let discussions involving Jakel Trading and DBKL to continue. – March 25, 2025