M Kula Segaran says the ashrams board members shouldn't be so adamant in fighting against having the building preserved as a heritage site.

KUALA LUMPUR: DAP MP M Kula Segaran today promised that he would fight till the end to preserve the Vivekananda Ashram in Brickfields here as a heritage site.

The Ipoh Barat parliamentarian said he was ever ready to work closely with Culture and Tourism Minister Nazri Abdul Aziz and others committed to the cause to achieve his goal.

He planned to raise the issue in Parliament soon in the wake of a decision by the board of trustees of Vivekananda Ashram to reject the Federal Governments proposal to designate the ashram as a heritage site under Section 27(2) of the National Heritage Act.

Its learnt that the government cannot automatically gazette the historical icon as a heritage site without the boards approval.

Why must the board be so adamant and fight against the wishes of the local community to have the building preserved?

The fight for Vivekananda Ashram to be preserved as a heritage site shall continue, vowed Kula, also the DAP national vice-chairman.

The board of trustees has planned to redevelop the ashram into a multi story condominium.

The local Indian community has however held a signature campaign and demonstrations opposing the redevelopment plan.

Urged by the community, Nazri visited the site and agreed to gazette the ashram as a heritage site.

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MP vows to save Vivekananda Ashram against all odds

Guruji Ravinder Sharma showing the Ugadi Puraskaram at Kala Ashram in Adilabadon Saturday.-Photo: S. Harpal Singh

Ugadi Puraskaram winner and founder of Kala Ashram in Adilabad, Guruji Ravinder Sharma, was on Saturday, given a rousing reception at the ashram by the personalities, who gathered for the ongoing Mitr Milan programme.

He had returned from Hyderabad after receiving the award from Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao earlier in the day at Ravindra Bharati.

Guruji was given the award for his efforts in the establishment of Kala Ashram, which now serves as a hub of knowledge associated with rural life obtained in the past. People from different trades and calling come to the ashram from all parts of the country to learn about rural technologies among other things.

Meanwhile, on the second day of Mitr Milan programme, a presentation was given by the Tolu Bommalata Puppetry troupe from Guntur.

The Mitr Milan programme organised every year around Ugadi festival will conclude on Sunday.

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Kala Ashram founder felicitated

The three-day Mitr-Milan programme came to an end at Kala Ashram in Adilabad on Sunday with the cultural item Katam Raju katha rendered by a troupe of Mandal Golla artistes from Warangal. The robust presentation got applause from an audience which was quite diverse in compositions as it was drawn from across the country. The three-day event featured programmes depicting the culture of aboriginal tribes of Adilabad and artiste communities in Telangana which performed the Tolu Bommalata and Katam Raju katha. The personalities who had gathered at the ashram in connection with the Ugadi Mitr-Milan also involved themselves in discussions on various angles connected with rural life and technologies.

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Cultural shows mark conclusion of Mitr-Milan

The committee studied the current state of Buddhism affairs and found four problems:

-Lack of audits or public disclosure of temple or monks' assets, which tempted many monks into pursue personal gain rather than study and practise dharma;

-Cases of monks violating dharma winaya (discipline) possibly stemmed from administrative issues within the centralised Sangha Council, and caused the public to lose their faith;

-Some teachings and practices stray from the Lord Buddha's dharma principles, such as those of Pathum Thani's Dhammakaya Temple, |which needs to be probed by a committee to cleanse the clergy of impure practices;

-Thai authorities need to do more to support and protect religious activities by arranging for a more dynamic Sangha administrative system.

The committee suggested drafting a law on the management of temple and monks' assets to ensure that benefits of monastic activities go to the religion, not a person's pocket, and allow monks and laymen to participate for transparency.

Another proposal from the Paiboon panel was for a civil law amendment to ensure that the assets that a monk accumulates during his monkhood passes to the temple.

It said the Sangha Council's 24th regulation or the Sangha Council Act of 1962 should be amended to allow the decentralisation of power and promote the participation of monks nationwide.

It also urged a mechanism to ensure adherence to dharma winaya and reform ecclesiastic education for monks so they are up-to-date and given importance.

Direk Thungfang, deputy chairman of another NRC committee, on political reform, said opponents of certain provisions in the draft charter would voice their opinions during an NRC seminar late this week in Pattaya. Among the issues to be raised are provisions allowing a non-MP to become prime minister, he said.

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Temple assets should be publicly revealed: panel