By IANS
Kuala Lumpur : Members of a Hindu rights group in Malaysia have protested against the demolition of nearly 80 temples across the country in recent years.
Around 100 members of the Hindu Rights Action Force, a coalition of 30 NGOs committed to the preservation of Hindu heritage in Malaysia, handed over a memorandum to the office of the country's solicitor general Friday.
They expressed disappointment about the apparent lack of action over the demolition of 79 temples although numerous police complaints were lodged over the years.
Waytha Moorthy, chairperson of the group, said the memorandum stated that several Hindu temples, some more than 100 years old, had been demolished without proper court orders, the Star newspaper reported.
According to the group, the official reason given for the demolitions was that the temples were illegally occupying land.
Apart from police complaints, the organisation has sent out over 70 letters and memoranda to the attorney general's office and other relevant authorities but has not received any response, Moorthy said.
Ethnic Indians, mostly Hindus, make up about 8 percent of Malaysia's 26 million people.