KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 1 — MIC today expressed disappointment that non-Muslim parents remain vulnerable when confronted with custodial matters against Muslim convert spouses despite calls by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak for them to be resolved.

Its president Datuk Seri Dr. S. Subramaniam said the ongoing case of M. Indira Gandhi whose husband had unilaterally converted their three children to Islam, which was referred to the Shariah court instead of the civil courts, had “reopened the Pandora’s box” of the vulnerability of a non-Muslim parent.

“The Prime Minister had on many occasions stated that this issue should be resolved by taking into consideration the rights of the unconverted non-Muslim parent and that of the Muslim parent. He had asked respective agencies to come forward with effective solutions to end this problem,” Subramaniam said in a statement.

“Unfortunately the issue remains unsolved. The right of the unconverted non-Muslim mother in determining the religion of her minor child still remains vulnerable with no evident protection within our judicial system as exemplified by the recent judgment.”

He noted that the interpretations of existing laws on the matter have been discussed at various levels, including a discussion among cabinet ministers in 2009, but have until now failed to resolve it.

“The MIC views with great discomfort the recent Court of Appeal decision on the Indira Gandhi case. This has once again reopened the Pandora’s box on the vulnerability of a non-Muslim parent in being able to protect the religious status of her child in the case of unilateral conversion of the child by the other spouse,” he said.

The Court of Appeal on Wednesday reversed a lower court’s order that quashed the unilateral conversion of Indira’s three children to Islam by her Muslim ex-spouse.

Indira’s ex-husband, Muhammad Riduan Abdullah (formerly known as K. Pathmanathan), had in 2009 converted the couple’s three children — then aged 12 years old, 11 years old, and 11 months old — to Islam without their presence or Indira’s knowledge, just six days before he obtained a custody order for all three in the Shariah court on April 8, 2009.

Muhammad Riduan had taken the youngest child Prasana Diksa in 2009 — now aged seven — and kept her from Indira since then, despite Indira having won custody of all three children in the civil courts.