PETALING JAYA, July 27 — State governments should amend their laws to bar unilateral child conversions to Islam to reflect the Federal Constitution, the MCA said today.
The Chinese political party warned that disparate religious legislation needed to be standardised to prevent individuals from abusing the law and to resolve the ongoing tussle for custody of children that has led to a faith rift in Malaysia.
“We want to avoid a situation of people running to the religious authorities to unilaterally convert their minor children without informing their spouse as a means of gaining custody without going through the civil court.
“All religions are sacred. Hence, we do not want individuals making use of religion to achieve their own agenda,” MCA publicity chief Datuk Heng Seai Kie (picture) said.
In her statement, Heng applauded the Ipoh High Court decision earlier this week against the unilateral conversion of three underaged children to Islam by a Muslim convert estranged from his Hindu wife.
Lawyers and rights groups said that M. Indira Gandhi’s victory on Thursday marks a major milestone in Malaysia’s inter-religious relations, which have suffered greatly over the years due to inconsistent policies and overlaps in legal jurisdictions.
The issue has also been highly politicised due to Malaysia’s Muslim-majority population.
The 2009 case was deemed a triumph of “natural justice” besides being in line with the country’s supreme law by several civil rights groups who have voiced concerned over what they perceive to be the rise of overt Islamisation in the country.
Heng urged the state governments to follow the example of Perak, which she said requires minor children to be present to personally affirm their acceptance of the conversion.
She said that such a move would also better reflect the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women and the Convention of the Rights of the Child, and pointed out that Malaysia has ratified in a move to protect children’s rights.
“We hope that all other states will amend their state enactments and standardise all state laws to be in line with the original intent of the Federal Constitution that religion of minor children must be determined by both parents,” she said.
Heng’s proposal echoed the Bar Council’s call yesterday, urging state governments to repeal their laws providing for the Muslim parent the sole right to convert the religion of his or her child, which has often resulted in court battles when the non-Muslim parent learns of the act only after the conversion has been done.
Custodial tussles in cases of unilateral child conversions have been a growing concern over the years and provide a high-profile glimpse of the concerns of Malaysia’s religious minorities over the perceived dominance of Islam in the country.
It also highlights the complications of Malaysia’s dual legal systems where Muslims are bound by both civil and syariah laws, the latter of which do not apply to or recognise non-Muslims.
