Ipoh police deny cancelling Hindu religious procession

Ipoh police deny cancelling Hindu religious procession


Ipoh police denied allegations that it prevented Hindus from holding a procession this weekend, in conjunction with the Buntong Idugathu Kaliamman festival.

District police chief Yahaya Hassan said the police had merely advised the temple to postpone the procession to avoid clashing with the Hari Raya Aidilfitri festivities.

“Ipoh police respects every individual’s right to carry out religious activities as enshrined in the Federal Constitution and have never prevented anyone from holding a religious prayer ceremony.

“In this matter, we only gave advice and asked for cooperation from the temple to postpone the chariot and kavadi procession from April 21 to 23 as it clashes with the Aidilfitri celebration,” Bernama reported him as saying.

Yahaya stressed that the police had no issues with the temple holding religious activities in the area.


Cooperative temple management

Meanwhile, Berita Harian quoted Yahaya as saying that the planned procession was expected to attract about 25,000 devotees, and the strong turnout could have worsened the traffic congestion and risked public safety in nearby areas.

According to Yahaya, he had voiced these concerns to the organisers, who understood and agreed with the police's advice.

He was responding to a viral WhatsApp message titled “District Police Chief Prevents Hindus from Performing Prayers in Buntong's Annual Idugathu Kaliamman Festival”, which made claims of racism in the directive.

The message also urged the intervention of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, Perak Menteri Besar Saarani Mohamad and Perak police chief Yusri Hassan Basri on the matter.

Elaborating, Yahaya claimed the message was defamatory and malicious, aimed at undermining the police’s credibility.

The procession's organiser has also reportedly denied their involvement in circulating the message.

Yahaya then advised the public not to be misled by the baseless accusation and to refrain from speculating on the content of the viral WhatsApp message.

“The police will take stern action against any irresponsible party who spreads the message under Section 505(b) of the Penal Code and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998."