It’s illegal, says HRP

Athi Shankar | September 10, 2011

Umno-helmed state government's proposal to take over part of Hindu cemetery land is in violation of Section 297 of the Penal Code, says Uthayakumar

IPOH: Perak’s Barisan Nasional government’s plan to cut off a plot of Hindu cemetery in Buntong, Ipoh, to build a state of the art crematorium for all non-Muslims is a criminal offence.

If carried out, the Umno-helmed state government proposal will violate Section 297 of the Penal Code (trespassing on burial places etc).

The offence is punishable with up to a minimum of one year jail or fine or both.

Human Rights Party pro-tem secretary-general P Uthayakumar stated this in a letter sent to both the Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and Perak Menteri Besar Zambry Abdul Kadir.

A copy of the letter was also sent to Perak police chief, DCP Mohd Shukri Dahlan yesterday.

In the letter, Uthayakumar said that the Zambry administration’s plan was ultra vires Article 11 of the Federal Constitution, which guarantees freedom of religion.

Perak executive councillor in charge of non-Islamic affairs Dr Mah Hang Soon in a letter dated May 3, 2011 directed the Ipoh Hindu Devastana Paripalana Sabha to surrender a part of the Hindu burial land to build a non-Muslim modern crematorium.

Under a colonial gazette notice 1919, the Ipoh Hindu Paripalana Sabha, the management committee of nearby Sri Maha Mariamman Devastanam, was to be the caretaker of the 100-year-old cemetery.

The cemetery sits on a 2.8ha or seven acres at the heart of Buntong, a Tamil Hindu-dominated hamlet. Being the largest Hindu graveyard in the city, it caters to the burial needs of Ipoh’s estimated 200,000 Hindus.

Uthayakumar pointed out that the colonial land gazette notice was unambiguous that the Buntong cemetery was specifically for the Hindu community alone.

The gazette notice states: “In exercise of the powers vested in him by Section 9 of The Land Enactment, 1911, then Resident of Perak proclaimed that parcel of land situated in Mukim Ulu Kinta, Ipoh, described in the schedule hereto, and delineated upon revenue survey plan No. 12,718, deposited in the office of the Deputy Superintendent of Revenue Surveyor Batu Gajah, to be a reserve for the purpose of a place of interment for the dead-to wit, a burial ground for the Tamil community of Ipoh.”

The gazette also specifically states that “the cemetery is to be maintained by the president, vice-president and secretary of the Ipoh Hindu Devastana Paripalana Sabha for the time being and their successors in office. “

‘Build crematorium for non Muslims elsewhere’

This notification is made under Section 9 of The Land Enactment, 1911, dated June 24, 1919 at Taiping.

Uthayakumar said that the gazette signed by CWH Cochrane, the then acting secretary to the Perak Resident on June 24, 1919, “was exclusive for Hindus, not for all non-Muslims.”

He noted that after independence in 1957, by virtue of Sections 40, 42 and 76 of the National Land Code (NLC), all state lands were vested under the authority of Menteris Besar or Chief Ministers, as heads of the state executive councils.

Therefore, he stressed that Perak government and Ipoh City Council, and never the aforesaid Sabha, have ultimate authority over the preservation of the Hindu cemetery.

He insisted that the land must be preserved and maintained as a Hindu cemetery by virtue of Section 94 of the Local Government Act 1976.

“It’s the duty of the local government, not Hindu mandore outfits, to preserve and maintain Hindu cemeteries nationwide vis-à-vis the LGA.

“The state directive to the Sabha to surrender a part of cemetery land is a criminal act and contrary to the general public policy and interest,” said Uthayakumar in the letter.

He also slammed Zambry’s government for embarking on an unconstitutional and unlawful agenda by instructing the Sabha to call for an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) on Sunday, Sept 18, to obtain consent of temple members for the project.

On Tuesday, Mah and Zambry have declined to meet a nine-man delegation from Hindraf Makkal Sakhti, led by its Perak chief P Ramesh, to discuss the controversial issue.

Uthayakumar believes the state government planned to go ahead with the project by bulldozing it through the agency of the Sabha, regardless of whether majority Hindus were against it.

As Perak has a vast 21,035 sq km of land, the HRP leader proposed that the non-Muslim crematorium to be built on a suitable idle land elsewhere to better serve the people of Perak.

Since the issue has caused much anxiety and disharmony among Ipoh’s Hindu community, Uthayakumar called on the Perak police chief Mohd Shukri to advice the Sabha to cancel its scheduled EGM.

He recalled that violence had forced an earlier scheduled Sabha EGM on Aug 7 to be abandoned.

“We call on the federal and state governments to preserve all Hindu cemeteries also as national heritage.

“We want Hindu cemeteries nationwide be maintained and fully funded by the government as done for all Malay Muslim burial grounds,” said Uthayakumar, who is also Hindraf’s legal adviser.