Hindu temple denies helping to register voters illegally

KLANG: A Hindu temple here said yesterday it has lodged a police report over an allegation that it had organised an illegal voter registration exercise with the assistance of the Election Commission ( EC) at the temple premises a few days before the 13th General Election last Sunday.

The Sri Sundaraja Perumal Temple said the temple had only organised a ‘My Daftar’ campaign with the cooperation of the National Registration Department in March 2011 to assist Malaysianborn without proper identification documents.

Its honorary secretary, Nehru Nagappan, told reporters a police report had been made over a video clip posted on YouTube on May 1 which gave the impression that the temple committee had given away identity cards to Indonesian migrant workers and illegal immigrants, and that it had worked with the federal government in doing so.

“The comments posted on the video have created the perception that the temple condoned the unethical practice of registering illegal voters for the election,” he said, adding that the photos had been edited to show that the My Daftar campaign was organised recently.

The temple’s legal advisor, Selva Mookiah, said the temple was a caring house of worship and the My Daftar campaign was organised to reach out to Malaysian- born, especially Indians, who did not possess proper identification documents. — Bernama