KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, December 7, 2006: Mr. R. Thiagarja, Honorary Secretary General Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism, sends the following press release:
“The Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism extend its deepest condolences to the family of the late Mr. Rayappan Anthony. We are deeply distressed that the family’s grief has been worsened by the actions of the Islamic authorities in threatening to take away the body, thus denying the family their right to pay their last respects peacefully to their loved one according to the religion he professed when he passed away.
“The Syariah High Court’s ex parte order applying Islamic law after hearing one party only that the late Rayappan Anthony is a Muslim is against all universal principles of freedom of the individual. A person’s religion ought to be the religion the person professes. Not the one the authorities or the powers that be designate for him.
“About 11 months ago, we were all aghast that Madam Kaliammal, the widow of the late Corporal M. Moorthy, had no recourse to the legal system to prove that her husband in fact professed Hinduism before he died. Islamic authorities secretly obtained a Syariah Court order in the absence of the widow purporting to confirm that Moorthy was a ‘Muslim,’ and the Civil High Court then refused to intervene. The appeal against that decision is still before the courts.
“Now, we see that the Islamic authorities are behaving with similar disregard to the sensitivities and feelings of the grief stricken family of the late Rayappan Anthony, a Catholic. About a month ago, the family of the late Chandran Dharmadass were similarly agonized by the behavior of the religious authorities and the police.
“How can we resolve these problems if we are not allowed to talk about it? The Government has banned the forums on the Constitution organized by the Article 11 coalition but has helped to organize a meeting where one sided opinions from conservative Muslims inflaming religious sentiments are openly discussed. We refer to the recent speeches at the Convention on Apostasy organized by the International Islamic University and the government (through the Syariah Judiciary Department) which disconcerted many Malaysians, particularly those of faiths other than Islam. The Government should not be concerning itself with the individual conscience and personal beliefs of Malaysians.
“The threat of the use of the ISA against those wishing to convert out of Islam and the call for even greater restrictions on freedom of religion is very worrying. It must be remembered that the majority of those wishing to leave Islam are in fact persons professing another religion, or people wanting to revert to their original religion who converted merely to marry a Muslim. They are persons professing faiths other than Islam. According to our Constitution, and to all universal international norms of human rights, these people are guaranteed their freedom to believe in God and pray in the way that they choose for themselves.
“We urge the Government to urgently enact laws that protect and ensure the right of non Muslims to get proper access to justice in these conflicts. The Islamic authorities must be prohibited from applying Islamic law to persons who do not profess Islam.”