Call To Boycott Thaipusam In Batu Caves Ignored, One Million Turn Up

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 23 (Bernama) -- Calls made to Hindus through short messaging service (SMS) to boycott Thaipusam festival in Batu Caves fizzled out as hundreds of thousands of devotees thronged the Sri Subramaniaswamy Temple here to pay their annual homage to Lord Muruga.
As of noon Wednesday, not less than 500,000 people, both locals and foreigners, flocked to the temple to fulfil their vows, MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu said.
He added that SMSes sent out by irresponsible elements instigating devotees to hurl slippers at him as he is addressing the crowd, were also ignored.
"I don't think religious people pay any attention to naughty SMSes," he told reporters when asked to comment on the crowd turnout at Batu Caves following the SMSes calling on the Hindus to boycott the Thaipusam festival in Batu Caves.
Describing the SMS senders as "people of low-quality mind", Samy Vellu said these sort of vicious SMSes would not dampen the spirit of the Indians to be steadfast in their belief and conviction.
Samy Vellu urged the Indian community to unite in support of the Barisan Nasional (BN) government, which had protected the rights of all races in the country.
"Don't be hoodwinked by the opposition," he said, imploring Indians to change their mindset to emerge as a progressive race in this multiracial nation.
The opposition should be ashame of themselves for stooping so low as to use places of worship for their political campaign, he exclaimed.
The minister expressed his gratitude to the government for declaring Thaipusam a public holiday in Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya as more than 800,000 Hindus lived in the Klang Valley.
Samy Vellu said he would ask Melaka Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam to consider declaring Thaipusam a public holiday in the state.
He refuted talk that declaring public holiday for Thaipusam was an election gimmick by the government to shore up Indian community's support for the ruling coalition.
"Indians are not stupid to be easily swayed by gimmicks and political dramas," he said.
The Works Minister expects the crowd to swell to about 1.1 million by this evening.
Some 1,000 policemen from the Federal Reserve Unit, General Operations Force and traffic were deployed to maintain rule and order.

tunku : on religion matter pun mau boycott ka??