KUALA LUMPUR, April 12 (Bernama) -- MIC president Datuk Seri S.Samy Vellu today appealed to the government to lift the ban on the recruitment of priests from India for Hindu temples and Sikh gurdwaras.
He said the temples and gurdwaras urgently required about 500 and 300 priests, respectively.
"I have recently met Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar to lift the ban on the recruitment of the priests but I was informed that the matter had to be brought up at the Cabinet level," he said in a statement here today.
He said Syed Hamid had told him that it was a Cabinet decision and hence, only the Cabinet could decide to revoke the decision.
"I am appealing to the government to take into consideration the sensitivity involved as the priests are needed urgently to conduct daily prayers," he said.
Samy Vellu cautioned that if the matter was left unresolved, it could spark "major dissatisfaction among the Hindu and Sikh communities".
He said some of the priests were being deported or had their work permits terminated.
"This has caused a lot of anxiety to the devotees and the temple as well as gurdwara management committees, and they have appealed to me to bring up the matter with the government," he said.
The former Works Minister said he had raised the matter in the Cabinet before but there had been slow progress.
"I sincerely hope that the Cabinet will review its decision fast and allow for the recruitment of these priests," he said.
Samy Vellu said it will be a good move for the government to do so (review the ban of priests) in order to regain the confidence of the Indian community, especially with tomorrow being the Tamil New Year.
-- BERNAMA
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Temples, temples,temples....Priests, priests, priests...... Nothing else in your minds. Why do you want to import the priest? Is it for him to pray and make money? Try to think for a while. This is the major problems faced by Hindus. Now, I ask you one question. Have you learnt how to pray. Is it proper for you to pay money to the priest to pray for you? Isn't it your duty as a Hindu to pray or communicate with the creator like the Christians, Muslims, Buddhists and Bahais? I strongly believe that you, like many other Hindu youths do not know anything about our religion. This is the major problem confronting our society today. What we need today is spritual discipline; not temples or priests.We have enough temples. What we have to do is to sit down and chant the mantras together in a group in one voice in all temples. Have you learnt how to chant this mantras? Well, go to the nearest Sai Baba centre and learn how to chant the mantras in sanscrit. There, you will learn the skill to serve others. You want to be a leader, you have to learn to serve the poor and the needy. In Sai Baba Centres, there are many valuable programmes for the youths, women and the society as a whole. It is good that you have a good idea of doing something for the Indians. If you have anything to say, please communicate with me via: kalidas2@hotmail.com. Read Bhagavad Gita. This is our Bible. Learn to know what the Lord said before you make any decision. Mahatma Ghandhi did that.
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