COMMENT | In the days leading up to the Negeri Sembilan state election, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim apologised for referring to certain Hindu temples as "illegal" earlier in the year.

This apology was meant to placate and fight back the support of Indian Malaysian voters in the elections, referencing a crucial time in Malaysia's public sphere where calls from Malay ethnonationalists to destroy and remove all these so-called illegal temples were made.

At the time, Anwar's poorly phrased need to regulate such temples further increased the backlash the Indian community faced.

The issue of "illegal Hindu temples" was centred around allegations that most Hindu temples were built on "illegal" land in Malaysia.

The first major event of this controversy occurred in early 2025, when the...