IN a move to head off controversy which could sink his candidacy, Azhari Shaari is set to meet devotees of a Hindu temple to explain his action protesting against the relocation of a temple in Shah Alam 10 years ago.

The Shah Alam BN candidate was involved in the notorious “cow head” incident in Shah Alam, Selangor.

His deed a decade ago has been dredged up and a picture of his presence at the protest has gone viral on social media.

Azhari was fined RM1,000 by the Shah Alam Sessions Court over the protest along with another 11 men. Two men in the group were also charged with sedition and fined another RM3,000, with one of the two also ordered to serve a week’s jail.

The Shah Alam constituency is made up of 107,316 voters, out of which 13% are Indians, a vote bank that can tilt the outcome.

The Shah Alam Umno division chief said Indian voters should assess him by what he has done for the community as he has been channelling aid to the community and temples in the constituency.

He said he was only involved in the illegal demonstrations and never charged with sedition.

The cow is sacred to Hindus and the incident broke out following a protest over the proposal by the state government to transfer a Hindu temple in Section 19 to Section 23 in Shah Alam.

Despite Azhari’s effort to make amends with the community, Malaysia Hindu Sangam president R.S. Mohan Shan said there will be a backlash.

He said there will be repercussions for BN as the ruling coalition did not care about the racial sentiments of other races in Shah Alam.

“The will definitely be a backlash. This is not a small issue. They protested against a Hindu temple.

“On top of that they kicked a cow’s head. The cow is real sacred to us and people will not forget that,” Mohan told Malaysia Decides. – May 2, 2018.