Skip to main content

Malaysia’s top court annuls unilateral conversions of minors

Malaysia’s top court said in a landmark decision on Monday that both parents must consent to the religious conversion of a minor. (File photo)
Malaysia’s top court said in a landmark decision on Monday that both parents must consent to the religious conversion of a minor, ruling unanimously in favour of a Hindu woman whose ex-husband converted their three children to Islam without telling her.
The ruling ended a nine-year legal tussle for M Indira Gandhi, whose former husband became a Muslim and converted their three children in 2009. He also snatched their daughter, then 11 months old, from the family home.
She won custody of the three children and challenged their conversions in civil courts of Malaysia’s dual-court system. A lower court annulled them, but the Court of Appeal overturned the ruling, saying civil courts had no jurisdiction over Islamic conversions. The ruling was appealed to the nation’s highest court.
The five-member panel in the Federal Court found the children’s conversions unlawful as they were done without Gandhi’s consent. “This is a landmark decision and a victory for all Malaysians,” said M Kulasegaran, Gandhi’s lawyer.
He said the ruling clearly showed civil courts are the paramount courts and can hear matters related to Islamic affairs even if there is a contradictory Sharia court decision. There are many similar disputes involving the unilateral conversion of children to Islam and that the ruling meant that non-Muslims now can seek redress in the civil courts, he added.
Muslims, who are 60 per cent of Malaysia’s 31 million people, are governed by Islamic courts while non-Muslims go to civil courts to settle family, marriage and other personal disputes. But the law is vague on which court has authority over disputes between Muslims and non-Muslims, especially within a family.
Civil courts have generally avoided taking a position in such cases, allowing Sharia courts to lead. This has raised questions about freedom of religion guaranteed by the Constitution, and strained racial relations in this multiethnic country, which has enjoyed largely peaceful race relations for nearly five decades.
Critics accuse the ethnic Malay Muslim-dominated government of doing too little to resolve problems. The government has become increasingly reliant on support from Islamist and right-wing pressure groups as other constituencies flock to the opposition.
Last year, the government withdrew a proposed law that sought to end unilateral conversions of children ahead of general elections due in the next few months.
An emotional Gandhi told local media that she was thankful for the decision and that there is “no more excuse” for police not to find her former husband, who has refused to comply with court rulings to hand her youngest daughter back to her. He has gone missing and police earlier said they couldn’t act on the civil court’s order.
“But my daughter is still missing. I want to see her. I really need to hold her. It has been nine years. When is she going to come back?” she said.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

China recovers $112 million in misused poverty relief funds

China’s government has pledged to wipe out poverty by 2020. (AP file photo) Chinese authorities have recouped 730 million yuan ($112.20 million) in misappropriated funds as part of an investigation into the country’s national poverty-reduction scheme, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Saturday. Nearly 450 people have been charged for offences relating to the misused funds in an inspection of 28 provinces, said Xinhua, citing the Ministry of Finance and the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development. The report gave no details on how the funds were misused. China’s government has pledged to wipe out poverty by 2020, targeting 70 million people living below the poverty line, but researchers and social workers say a lasting solution will take much longer. China has spent 196.1 billion yuan ($30.14 billion) on poverty relief over the past four years, said Xinhua. Earlier this month, Hu Zejun, the head of the National Audit Office, said...
Post a Comment
Read more

Detained Cambodian opposition leader calls for free and fair vote

Kem Sokha said 2017 was marked by big political crises that led to a “democracy walked backward.” (AP Photo) Cambodia’s detained opposition leader Kem Sokha called for free and fair elections in the Southeast Asian country in a New Year’s message on Monday. Kem Sokha, head of the banned opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), was arrested in September. He is accused of trying to overthrow the government of strongman Prime Minister Hun Sen with American help and of espionage – charges he denies and says are politically motivated. In a two-page letter read by his daughter Kem Monovithya and posted on  Facebook  on Monday, Kem Sokha said Cambodia faces losing aid and its export markets abroad as well as condemnation by the international community after the CNRP’s dissolution. “Leave an opportunity for people to choose leadership representatives through an election that is free and fair,” Kem Sokha said, calling for national unity and non-violence to solve ...
Post a Comment
Read more

US may withhold USD 255 million aid to Pak for inaction against terror groups: Report

The NYT report comes days after US Vice President Mike Pence said in Kabul that the Trump administration has put Pakistan on notice. (Donald Trump and Shahid Khaqan Abbasi) The United States government is reportedly considering to withhold USD 255 million in aid to Pakistan. PTI quoted a New York Times report as saying that the internal debate of Trump administration whether to deny Pakistan the money is a test of whether President Donald Trump will deliver on his threat to punish Islamabad for failing to cooperate on counter-terrorism operations. “Now, the Trump administration is strongly considering whether to withhold USD 255 million in aid that it had delayed sending to Islamabad, according to American officials, as a show of dissatisfaction with Pakistan’s broader intransigence toward confronting the terrorist networks that operate there,” the New York Times report said. ALSO READ |  US will not tolerate Pakistan providing safe havens to terrorists: Nikki Hale...
Post a Comment
Read more