Sanusi questioned MIC if it ever lobbied for a public holiday in the state when it was in federal power for 60 years, following the recent Thaipusam row.

He said the decision not to have a special holiday (cuti peristiwa) for Thaipusam as in previous years was due to the Covid-19 pandemic and was not meant to deny the rights of devotees.

Speaking to FMT, Sanusi said Hindus were free to carry out prayers on their own, so long as they meet SOPs set by the government. Kedah goes into MCO from tomorrow until Feb 4, due to a rise in cases. It was previously under conditional MCO.

Sanusi has come under attack from MIC’s M Saravanan and DAP’s P Ramasamy, after he said the day off was not necessary since the Thaipusam celebrations had been called off due to the MCO.

It is learnt that Kedah has observed Thaipusam as a public holiday since 2013.

Sanusi said he was surprised that MIC was “dancing to the tune” of DAP in trying to take advantage of the situation.

“During BN’s reign in Kedah, there was no issue of Thaipusam holidays for 60 years. There was no noise from MIC and BN leaders were quiet.

“Only when the DAP tried to be a political hero for the Indians through P Ramasamy, MIC seems to be dancing to DAP’s tune. What kind of politics is this?” he asked.

Sanusi said Saravanan, the human resource minister, should be thinking of work, not public holidays. He said Ramasamy, on the other hand, should not interfere with Kedah matters.

He said if MIC was so keen on having Thaipusam as a public holiday, it should lobby the federal government to have a gazetted nationwide holiday on that day.