IPOH, Jan 30 — This year’s Thaipusam celebration is an extra special occasion for Hindu mother M. Indira Gandhi and her family following their victory after a nine-year legal battle.
Elated for the Federal Court ruling that annulled her three children’s unilateral conversion to Islam without her consent, Indira, her mother S. Renggamah and her older daughter Tevi Darsiny made a trip to the Kallumalai Arulmigu Subramaniyar Temple here tonight bearing pots of milk as thanks to Hindu deity Lord Murugan.
“I always prayed to God that my children would get the justice and the day has finally come.
“This victory falls on a special day and we thank Lord Murugan by offering him milk,” she told Malay Mail.
Yesterday, a five-judge panel at the country’s highest court unanimously ruled that the consent of both parents is needed to convert a minor to a different religion, saying the Federal Constitution clearly stated so.
Earlier today in Kuala Lumpur, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said the government will consider re-introducing a clause to ban unilateral child conversion to Islam, referring to Section 88A of the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act that the government had withdrawn before passing amendments to the law last August.
