By IANS
London : A group representing Hindus in Britain says the international community should urgently intervene to help marginalized Hindus in Malaysia secure their legitimate human and civil rights.
In a statement here, Hindu Council UK (HCUK) also demanded that all Malaysian Hindu protesters detained be freed without charge and adequate compensation paid to those who were beaten by police Nov 26 while demonstrating peacefully.
Strongly condemning “the inhuman treatment of the Hindu minority by the Malaysian government”, the HCUK also urged the British government to compensate indentured Hindu labourers “whose rights had not been secured by it at the time of the independence of Malaysia”.
“Since independence from the British, Malaysia, a Muslim majority country, has been systematically persecuting the minority Hindu community. Laws were made to deny this community jobs and any economic benefits which were exclusively reserved for Muslims,” HCUK’s Suraj Sehgal said.
“The Muslim majority in Malaysia has been regularly demolishing Hindu temples in order to make the lives of the Hindu minority miserable and deny them the right to freedom of worship. Over 70 temples have thus far been demolished, including the destruction a few weeks ago of the over 100-year-old Maha Mariaman temple at Pendang Java.
“The Malaysian government has been violating Hindu human and religious rights as accorded under Article 2 of the UN Charter of Universal Human Rights,” he added.
Sehgal said Malaysian authorities arrested a large number of demonstrators, but released them after the international media highlighted the atrocities.
“But the authorities have now again arrested the leader of the protest, Sri Ganpathy Rao,” he added.