YOURSAY ‘It does not matter which political party is to blame. It matters that an important part of the history of the country has been allowed to be destroyed.'

'Wrecking of Bujang Valley candi federal gov't's fault'

Odin: In my not-so-humble opinion, PAS is merely trying to pass the buck. When you sell land to a developer, you must know that the latter is not going to turn the land into an open-air museum. Unless he has specifically stated that he will do so when applying for the grant to the particular land, and you or the appropriate authorities have granted permission for him to establish such an institution.

With the assumed but acceptable or confirmed knowledge that the particular developer intends to develop the land into a residential or mixed-use development, you should grant the title to the land with the provision, which ought to be stated in writing, that he would keep any ancient structures and any related artefacts found on the land intact.

One is very much inclined to suspect that PAS was not in the least bothered about the structures and any other antiquated remains found on the land, as those objects are related not to Islam but to the Hindu-Buddhist civilisation.

RATBATBLUE: This is an outright scandal. Here, it does not matter which political entity was to blame (whether the opposition or ruling party). It matters that somebody has allowed an important part of the history of the country to be destroyed for commercial gain.

Ignorance is no excuse. As it is, the ruling government considers the country's history to be of importance only from the 1400s.

Great pains have been taken to ignore important archaeological findings prior to 1400, even after foreign experts have stated the importance of other civilisations like Srivijaya, as in Kota Gellangi in Johor.

So what if another piece of stone was destroyed, since it belonged to the pre-1400 era. It baffles me that this area was not designated a historical site and cordoned off instead of being sold to a developer for profit.

In Malacca when an underground fort was discovered in the course of construction, all work was halted and the relevant authorities were called in and happily, it was preserved.

As it is, our country is short of history/heritage in terms of time, as opposed to other countries e.g. India, China, countries in the Middle East and certain ancient European civilisations.

What little we have remaining has been destroyed for monetary gain. What will be left for our children and future generations?

This, compounded with the government's sustained efforts to highlight only certain recent aspects of our past history, will certainly result in future Malaysians with a very scant heritage and almost no pride in the nation's past.

Anonymous$&@? : Malaysia now has a Taliban mentality - destroy any historical religious artefacts/temples that are not pro-Islam, period. This is similar to the Bamiyan incident in Afghanistan, where the Taliban destroyed statues of Buddha that were built in 507 and 554 AD. Islam is compassion? Tolerance?

Wira: Kedah executive councillor Dr Hamdan Khalid: all land matters are under the jurisdiction and control of the state government. It's the most important portfolio of the state as without it, the state government might as well not exist.

Thus I find it strange and alarming that the state government under PAS should abdicate its role to the federal government on this crucial piece of historical land.

Continue-The-March : Talk about historic sites, what about Merdeka Stadium and all the heritage buildings around the Bukit Nanas area? Soon these will be destroyed and dwarfed by Menara Warisan Merdeka.

Do we need another skyscraper to dwarf our historical and heritage buildings?

MockingYou: ‘Bhumiputra' is a Sanskrit word & ‘Malai' is a Tamil word for the products of the cultural influences of the Indian civilisation.

In Chinese written records (another mark of civilisation) ‘Ma-La-Yu' echoes what the Indians call this part of the world. Let's hear from the mighty local history dons from our world famous (pssst, counting from bottom, okay) universities to step forth to challenge this.

Did PAS raise the issue that this is an archaeological site with the federal government? Yes? No?

Oriole: Which cultural holes do these fellows rise from? How did a person in charge of the state's culture and arts okay land acquisition of a historical site?

PAS, you're every bit a disgrace as your nemesis, the federal government. Thanks to your combined destructive efforts, you should be able to turn this country into a raving cultural desert in time for 2020.

Anticommunalist: Yeah, right. PAS, we believe all your garbage! Simple Hindu cremation/burial grounds were given a miss during your tenure and you expect us to believe you would have given any importance at all to those ancient sites?

When the shit hits the fan, that's when we see politicians doing the tai-chi dance and playing the blame game.

Angry_Voter: On worldly matters, PAS will always be in the dark. So sad.

Sarajun Hoda : Shame on heartless PAS leaders. Shame on the federal government. There is no excuse for such a heinous crime.

The first fault lies with the Kedah government for approving that land acquisition while knowing very well that that was a very important historical site of another religion. Would they have approved if it was an Islamic historical site? Stop fooling Malaysians. We are not that stupid.

Bamboo: Looks like Umno and PAS are like-minded in erasing any trace of non-Islamic heritage in Malaysia. Narrow minded indeed.

RR: It is obvious for Umno or PAS to erase any evidence of heritage found in this country if they are not Islamic or Arabic. But today, nothing can be hidden.

The fact that Hindu kingdoms were established more than 2000 years ago in Kedah and that Malay royal culture is basically Hindu, including the usage of the Sanskrit language, cannot be erased from global history though they can be erased in local history.

The non-Malay cabinet ministers should at least from now speak for truth and righteousness because the prime minister has made claims of an inclusive and moderate policy.

Sunnyd: A race ashamed of its history and forefathers. Yet sings praise of distant Arabs we have nothing in common with. Quite sad, actually.

Swipenter: PAS is being totally irresponsible in this case by pushing all the responsibility and blame to the federal government.

In the sale of the land, PAS is saying that there is no clause to preserve the ancient ruins, nor it took the responsibility to point out the need to preserve the ancient ruins by the developer.

Maybe no one in PAS-led Kedah or the federal government sees the ancient ruins as national heritage.

Annon77: This country is becoming an empty shell of a place due to greed and ignorance. Bandar Saujana Sdn Bhd spokesman Saw Guan Keat seems as ignorant as he sounds. His bosses are no better.

It says it all when an ancient historic site is destroyed for yet another uninspiring housing project.

Malaysia offers very little in terms of arts, music, culture and history, so the sooner we recognise we're lame, the better.

Want any of this? Go elsewhere to see it. Well done BN. You've managed to turn a promising nation into a morally bankrupt (and soon to be financially bankrupt) society.

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