MHS
KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, April 14, 2004: The following is the full statement released by Datuk A. Vaithilingam, President of the Malaysia Hindu Sangam, in relation to the above decision.
The Malaysia Hindu Sangam is deeply concerned with the decision of Yang Arif Justice Dato’ Faiza bin Hj Thamby Chik on April 13, 2004, the Hindu Tamil New Year, in the case of Shamala Sathyaseelan, as reported in the New Straits Times and Star today.
In this case a Hindu man married a Hindu woman and brought up children born within wedlock as Hindus. The Hindu man converted to Islam and unilaterally converted their two children, aged 4 years and 2 years, without the consent of his wife and their mother.
The learned Judge decided that only the Syariah Court could decide if this conversion was valid. He recognized that the Hindu mother could not go to the Syariah Court for relief but held that the High Court could also not give the relief, and urged the Hindu mother to go to Parliament or the Majlis Agama Islam Wilayah Persekutuan for relief.
To say that a Hindu father married to a Hindu mother – both of whom brought up their children born within wedlock as Hindus – can unilaterally convert his minor children to Islam without the consent of his Hindu wife (in fact contrary to the express wishes of the Hindu mother of the children) is repugnant to the guarantees of freedom of religion protected by Articles 3 and 11 of our Federal Constitution. It makes a mockery of the recognition of equal guardianship rights over their children by both the father and mother by the amended section 5 of the Guardianship of Infants Act. It takes no account of Malaysia’s ratification of the Convention Against All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The letter from the Mufti of the Wilayah Persekutuan saying that one parent’s consent is enough for a valid conversion to Islam does not bind the Hindu mother, and ought not to have been considered by the Court. The parental rights of the Hindu mother, who does not care whether or not her children’s technical conversion into Islam was done in accordance with Islamic law or not, must be protected.
What is even more shocking is that the statutory body vested with the power to advise His Majesty the Yang Di Pertuan Agong on matters of Islamic law in the Federal Territory – the Majlis Agama Islam Wilayah Persekutuan – support this hijacking of the religious liberties and parental rights of the Hindu mother!
The natural result of that in our society today is that the infant child will be forced to accept this new religion, and will never be able to revert to his own religion no matter what he believes or professes.
The High Court has convincingly demonstrated to the general populace that the law governing non-Muslim parental and religious rights in Malaysia is nonexistent.
The Malaysia Hindu Sangam calls for immediate steps to be taken to amend all Syariah legislation in each and every State to ensure that this travesty of justice is corrected and not repeated.
The law must protect the religious rights of the Hindu parent over her children. She must have the right also to raise her children according to her religion until they attained the age of majority.
The Malaysia Hindu Sangam calls on the father concerned to search his soul to ensure that what he has done will in fact be in the best interests of the child: estranging a child from his or her mother will never get you into heaven, no matter what your religion.
Narrow literal interpretations of scriptural authorities must give way to modern enlightened interpretation that is more compassionate and considerate, accommodating all interests in our multi ethnic nation.