The recent announcements by Paparaidu the Selangor Exco member and FT minister identifying 688 temples in Selangor and 163 in FT  as “unapproved” are deeply troubling—not because of the data, but because of the dangerous narrative being built around it.

Labeling these temples as “illegal” without first establishing their historical origins is not just inaccurate—it is irresponsible.

For over a year, MAP and Hindraf have repeatedly called on the Prime Minister who caused the first uproar in March 2025, to convene a Special Cabinet Meeting and declassify historical records relating to British-era migration and settlement policies . Those calls have been ignored by the PM while he continued to create false narrative to the Hindu temple issue.

Now, we are presented with numbers—688 temples in Selangor, 163 in Kuala Lumpur—but no truth behind the numbers.

Where is the breakdown?

Without these answers, any suggestion that these temples were “unapproved” or “built on government land” is fiction intended to sweep the issue under the carpet.

The Indian community did not arrive in Malaya by chance. They were brought here under British policy with the consent of the then Rulers to build the very foundations of this nation—its plantations, railways, roads, and public institutions. These were intended to be permanent settlements, not temporary labour camps.

Temples were not an afterthought. They were part of a structured social system encouraged by the then authorities that enabled these communities to live, work, and remain, but failed to ensure their settlements or places of worship were given land titles as they did not have political representation then.

To now turn around decades later and brand these same temples as “unapproved” and “built on government land” is to rewrite history and criminalise heritage.

This is not governance. This is narrative manipulation.

Worse, this narrative has real consequences. It fuels public misunderstanding, emboldens extremist rhetoric, and undermines the fragile trust that holds our multiracial society together—as already warned in earlier correspondence .

The government cannot claim to stand for unity while allowing a false narrative to take root.

We demand immediate action. Perhaps Paparaiduand Hannah Yeoh could put some sense to their so called Madani PM to:

Until the full history is laid bare, the claim that these temples were “unapproved” or “built on government land” is a damaging myth that must be rejected.

Waytha Moorthy Ponnusamy

President/Chair

Malaysian Advancement Party

HINDRAF

26.4.2026