Exclusion of Clause 88A draws flak
THE proposed bill on unilateral conversion, which is expected to be tabled today, should be taken back to the discussion table, said Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism chairman Jagir Singh.
He said the original amendment was aimed to settle injustice that arose from the conversion of a single parent “where the marriage has been solemnised under civil law”.
“The cases in point are S. Deepa and M. Indira Gandhi where the unilateral conversion of children had caused anguish to the non-converting spouse,” he told theSun when contacted yesterday.
He said the decision to exclude Clause 88A in the bill due to four court decisions – three Federal Court and one Court of Appeal – binding the interpretation of “parent” as singular in Article 12(4) of the Federal Constitution, was flawed as the matter was not properly argued in court.
Lawyers for Liberty executive director Eric Paulsen expressed his shock as the amendments were long due to be tabled and passed in Parliament.
He said the unilateral conversion of children to any religion is clearly unconstitutional and certainly adverse to their best interest, which should be the authorities’ paramount concern.
M. Kula Segaran (DAP-Ipoh Barat) said the sudden withdrawal of the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) (Amendment) Bill 2016 showed the government’s noncommitment to resolve the issue.
He recalled the 2007 case of Indira Gandhi, a distraught mother whose three children were secretly converted to Islam by their father, Pathmanathan, who had also converted.
“The conversion was without consent, presence and or approval of the children or Indira.”
He said the people’s initial fear and allegation that there will be no concrete move to resolve this problem has come true.
Teo Nie Ching (Kulai-DAP) said BN leaders cannot remain silent to the sufferings of single parents, whose spouses have converted to Islam.
She demanded BN component leaders make clear if they agreed to withdraw the bill and remove the provision on “child’s religion”.
MCA Youth expressed its regret at the decision by the government to drop the proposed new Section 88A.