Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - A bid by Malaysian officials to raze an ethnic Chinese temple turned ugly on Friday with police firing warning shots to quell protests, a witness said, just a day after the premier sought curbs on religious disputes.
About 40 people scuffled with about 80 police and municipal officials at the Taoist temple on the northern island of Penang, soon after the structure was cordoned off for demolition, the parliamentary deputy for the area said.
Municipal authorities say it was built without planning approval.
"They didn't allow anyone to go in and pick up the statues and deities of the gods and that made people angry," Chong Eng, a lawmaker and member of the opposition Democratic Action Party, told Reuters.
"People forced the gate to enter the temple," she added. Police fired two warning shots to break up the scuffle and arrested six people, she added. The demolition was halted pending a decision by municipal authorities next week.
Police declined to comment.
The incident follows several recent reports of demolitions of Hindu temples that have stirred outcry from Malaysia's ethnic Indian community, feeding minority communities' fears that their rights are at risk among a largely Muslim population.
Political leaders of the ethnic Malay majority have warned the nation's Chinese and Indian minorities to stop questioning Malay privileges or risk hurting race relations, a touchy issue in a country that has suffered race riots in the past.
Earlier this week, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said polemics on race and religion in Malaysia had reached a worrying level, saying guidelines for debate needed to be laid down.
"It's time to remind people to lay down the ground rules," Abdullah, an Islamic scholar who portrays Malaysia as a moderate Muslim nation said on Thursday.