KUALA LUMPUR, May 9 — MIC president Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam believes a streamlined federal policy on religious reversions can help Muslim converts struggling to leave the faith.
The federal health minister who was part of a Cabinet committee on interfaith disputes said Putrajaya can help by standardising processes to allow converts to revert to their original religions.
“I feel the processes should be streamlined so that there is clarity.
“Affected people are often send kept waiting for years without a certainty. This affects their life,” Dr Subramaniam told Malay Mail Online when contacted last week.
Of late, the federal Cabinet member has been vocal in urging his fellow colleagues to allow Muslim converts to return to their initial faith, and with government aid.
His assertion came amid growing religious tension in recent years, as more followers of the minority faiths claimed their rights are being trampled upon through creeping Islamisation.
Dr Subramaniam said the time for a clear policy on religious conversion could not have been more urgent given the deteriorating relations between followers of the country’s major faiths.
“If the processes are streamlined at all levels it will reduce a lot of heartaches,” he said.
Last Tuesday Dr Subramaniam said Putrajaya’s intercession on behalf of Roneey Rebit, who reverted from Islam to Christianity, should be a precedent for all cases of interfaith disputes in Malaysia.
He congratulated incumbent Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Adenan Satem’s action in the Dayak Bidayuh’s case and welcomed Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s assurance that the National Registration Department will drop its appeal against Roneey.
At the same time Sarawak PKR chief Baru Bian urged Putrajaya to establish a council with the power to review matters of religious reversion.
Dr Subramaniam did not state if he was or was not supportive of the idea.
But the minister asserted that the government is duty-bound to uphold the fundamental constitutional right of religious freedom, and ensure that all government institutions be proactive in upholding the same.
