KUALA LUMPUR – Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has said that he will be attending the ground-breaking ceremony for the construction of a mosque in Jalan Masjid India, which will continue despite recent backlash.
It would be carried out as planned on March 27 despite differing views from several parties, Bernama reported him as saying during the 218th Police Day Celebration at the Police Training Centre (Pulapol).
“The prayer spaces there in the nearby mosques are crowded. There is a need for a new place. So, that’s why I will proceed to lay the foundation stone for the mosque on March 27.
“I ask the temple committee, as they are doing, to negotiate prudently,” he said.
The prime minister emphasised that Malaysia operates within the rule of law, but in the interest of maintaining racial harmony, discussions regarding the temple’s relocation would continue in a peaceful manner.
He also clarified that there was no issue of temple demolition, despite it being constructed in an unsuitable location.
However, Anwar mentioned that mosques in Lahad Datu, Sabah, and Sentul, Kuala Lumpur, had previously been removed for not adhering to proper regulations.
“…I took this stance because I took a very patient approach. I asked for it to be properly resolved.
“Even though they were wrong, the place was wrong. We said, take it carefully, move it. The company gave some compensation – I don’t know what the compensation is for – then it was given a new place courtesy of the City Hall (Kuala Lumpur).
“The committee agreed to negotiate but there are other instigators, who came from somewhere with their extreme talk.
“…the extremist Islamic group reprimanded me because they said I was subservient to the Hindu (religious) group, the extremist Hindu group said I wanted to Islamise everyone, not to mention that the mosque wanted to be called the Madani Mosque,” he said.
Anwar further reiterated that the government does not use Islam, the country’s official religion, as a means to exert pressure on any group. He stressed that all individuals, regardless of being part of the majority or minority, must abide by the nation’s laws and regulations.
“We cannot have a tyranny of the majority, neither should we condone a tyranny of the minority. We must defend what is called Madani values,” he said. – March 25, 2025