Penang MIC Putera chief N.G. Senthelnathan said the  decision was unlawful as the board was not allowed to interfere with, or conduct, Hindu religious events.

Just because the board contained the term “Hindu” it did not make it a religious body, he said.

He said the board was merely a statutory body established under a colonial-era law to be a trust for endowments to five Hindu temples in Penang, and to manage the trust.

“Constitutionally it would be unlawful for the state government via the Penang Hindu Endowments Board to organise the Thaipusam chariot procession,” said Senthelnathan.

The board’s chairman, Deputy Chief Minister II P Ramasamy, had recently announced that the board would organise its own chariot procession for next year’s Thaipusam.

The chariot procession has been run by the Tamil Chettiar sub-community for the past two centuries.

Senthelnathan said the fuss between the board and the Chettiars began when PHEB claimed that the Chief Minister, Lim Guan Eng, was not given due recognition when he paid a visit to the Nattukottai Chettiar temple at the Waterfall gardens, George Town, for the Thandayuthabani Koyil during Thaipusam.

Since then, he said, many social media messages attacking the Chettiar community had been spread online, especially through Whatsapp and on Facebook.

Senthelnathan said: “The DAP-controlled board should not try to break centuries-old Hindu tradition in Penang after coming to power eight years ago. It’s a typical egoistical ‎decision.”

He accused Ramasamy of breaking the unity within the community by using caste based system. “Chettiars do not demand any public funding to organise the Thaipusam chariot procession. It is the public that donates generously according to their means during the procession,” said Senthelnathan, adding that PHEB should know and act within its legal limits.