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MALAYSIA, April 14, 2004: Two religious groups strongly criticized the Kuala Lumpur High Court’s decision yesterday to throw out an application by a mother to nullify the conversion of her two children to Islam, reports this article. Shamala Sathyaseelan had sought a declaration to have the conversion of her children, aged three and two, declared null and void as it was carried out without her consent by her estranged husband upon his conversion to Islam. While dismissing the application yesterday, justice Faiza Thamby Chik said only the Syariah Courts had the competency and the expertise to determine the issue. In separate statements, the Malaysia Hindu Sangam (MHS) and the Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism and Sikhism (MCCBCHS) described the development as one which tramples over the rights of non-Muslim parents. MHS president A. Vaithilingam said any practice which allowed a parent to unilaterally convert his minor children to Islam without the consent of his non-Muslim wife was repugnant to the guarantees of freedom of religion protected by Articles 3 and 11 of the 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,” he added. Vaithilingam objected to the decision by Justice Chik which stated that only the Syariah Court could decide on the validity of the conversions while acknowledging that Shamala had no locus standi to seek relief at the Syariah court. “The High Court has convincingly demonstrated to the general populace that the law governing non-Muslim parental and religious rights in Malaysia is non-existent,” he said. MCCBCHS president Sardar Harebaran Singh criticized the inconsistent laws which allow courts to grant custody to a mother but limits her right in raising her children according to her own religious belief.

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