THE Kedah government is mischievously using the Covid-19 pandemic to punish Hindus, said P. Ramasamy.

The Penang deputy chief minister II, however, said it was not surprising coming from an “extremist and racist” menteri besar, Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor.

He added that the issue was not about Thaipusam being a public holiday on a national or state level, but was about Kedah depriving Hindus of an important religious holiday.

“If the holiday had continued (in Kedah), it would have provided Hindus in the state to organise their prayers in their homes as temples are closed.

“Why was this opportunity denied to Hindus in Kedah?

“Is this the way the PAS government treats Hindus who have contributed much to the development of the state?” he said in a statement today.

He said Kedah had granted a special public holiday for Thaipusam since 2013 after many years of struggle by Hindus.

“It was snatched away by Sanusi just like that.

“It would be a wonder if the Thaipusam holiday is restored after the pandemic subsided, not under the present extremist PAS government,” he added.

Ramasamy said this year’s Thaipusam celebration has been cancelled in all the states due to the movement-control order following the rapid rise in Covid-19 cases.

“I understand that it is a prime necessity. But Kedah has gone one step further by also cancelling the Thaipusam holiday or ‘cuti peristiwa’.

“Other states have not done so; in fact there is no need to do so.”

He said that the state government had gone for overkill in the name of defeating the pandemic.

The state government had come under severe criticism for cancelling the special public holiday for Thaipusam, which falls on January 28.

Yesterday, Sanusi defended the decision and told politicians to stop criticising the state over it.

Sanusi said his critics would be better off taking it up with the federal government to announce Thaipusam as a public holiday for the whole country.

He added that the state’s decision should not be politicised given the Covid-19 pandemic.

He also said that Kedah’s decision not to observe Thaipusam as a public holiday was not meant to deny the rights of Hindus, adding that worshippers can still celebrate the festival by adhering to the SOP. – January 22, 2021.