“We have to go according to the laws of the country.
“When the courts decide, we have to abide. If they think the decision is wrong, they can appeal,” he said at PPBM’s office here when asked if the temple would remain at the site.
Yesterday, Pakatan Harapan Indian ministers P Waythamoorthy and M Kulasegaran had said the temple would not be relocated until a decision is made by the government.
Mahathir said the status of the temple was unclear.
“At one time, it was decided by Selangor that the temple can remain.”
He said the court had also said the temple could be removed provided compensation was provided.
Mahathir said the temple devotees were guarding the temple due to its pending relocation. However, he said the mistake made was when Malays were asked to “guard” (“jaga”) the temple.
He said it would be the same if Hindus were asked to guard a mosque.
Mahathir, who was with other PPBM leaders, said the problem was due to the insensitivities of the developer.
He said in future, all places of worship would need approval from the local authorities to stop temples being built on other people’s land.
On old temples, he said the government is unable to act as there would be a lot of objections and “all kinds of reactions”, he said without elaborating further.
Request to debate issue in Parliament
Mahathir said there was a request from MPs to debate the Seafield temple issue tomorrow in Parliament. However, whether it would be allowed would depend on the speaker of the House.
“We need to tell what is happening because we have infomation from the police and others,” he said, adding that he hoped a full explanation would be given in Parliament tomorrow.
“I hope the media will not make things worse by reporting fake news,” he said, adding that the Anti-Fake News law has not been repealed.
Early on Monday, a group of armed men entered the temple which was crowded with devotees. A fracas ensued resulting in two men being seriously injured and 18 cars torched.
Early yesterday, a huge crowd again gathered outside the temple in the early hours and several more cars were torched. A fireman who went to put out a fire was attacked and badly injured.
Early today, the heavy police presence discouraged further violence and several people who refused to disperse in front of the temple were arrested.