• Welcome to all New Sikh Philosophy Network Forums!
    Explore Sikh Sikhi Sikhism...
    Sign up Log in

Malaysia M'sian Sikhs Join Call To Stop New Islamic Bill Allowing Unilateral Conversion Of Kids By One Parent

spnadmin

1947-2014 (Archived)
SPNer
Jun 17, 2004
14,500
19,219
M'sian Sikhs join call to stop new Islamic Bill allowing unilateral conversion of kids by one parent

http://www.malaysia-chronicle.com/i...n-of-kids-by-one-parent&Itemid=2#.UdCOKOu2XfY


The Malaysian Gurdwaras Council (MGC) has joined the chorus of calls for the government to withdraw Section 107(b) of the Administation of Religion of Islam (Federal Territories) Bill 2013 that would allow a parent to convert a minor child to Islam without the consent of the other.

"The MGC wishes to reiterate that any such unilateral conversion of a child by a single parent is not only unconstitutional but is morally wrong and is against good conscience and justice...," said MGC president Jagir Singh in a statement yesterday.

Furthermore, MGC said it was also opposed to Section 51(3)(b)(xi) of the same bill as it would allow a syariah court to determine whether a person who died was a Muslim or non-Muslim.

"This power to decide on the religion of a person has always been with the civil High Court and matters of interpreting provisions in the federal constitution are with the civil High Courts.

"Thus whenever there is a dispute as to the facts of conversion it must be decided by the civil High Court. The amendment thus proposed is unconstitutional," he said.

Jagir said the government must either delete both provisions from the bill or withdraw it altogether.

The call comes following both MCA and MIC expressing shock over the bill and calling it to be withdrawn while the Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism (MCCBCHST) had voiced similar concerns.

Critics of single-parent conversion have raised concerns that a spouse could deliberately convert to Islam, together with his or her minor child, in order to win custody of the child in the syariah court.

They argue that the syariah court would naturally recognise and favour the Muslim convert parent, leaving the other non-Muslim parent helpless in trying to win custody of the child.
 

Gyani Jarnail Singh

Sawa lakh se EK larraoan
Mentor
Writer
SPNer
Jul 4, 2004
7,708
14,381
75
KUALA LUMPUR MALAYSIA
The answer the govt gives is what the NEHRU-PATEL Combine gave Master tara Singh Ji when he reminded Nehru about his Promises made to teh Sikhs before 1947....Nehru replied.."TIMES HAVE CHANGED....Master Ji either accept a Ministership in Delhi and be silent..or be JAILED and made SILENT." Goodbye and close the door on your way out.
The DPM of malaysia says.."This Bill is suitable for the CHANGED CIRCUMSTANCES as is in Malaysia NOW !! http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/234440
 

Gyani Jarnail Singh

Sawa lakh se EK larraoan
Mentor
Writer
SPNer
Jul 4, 2004
7,708
14,381
75
KUALA LUMPUR MALAYSIA
The MINORITIES "leaders" were BOUGHT OVER 65 years ago..and TRADED Ministerhsips for their communities rights...Now the Changed circumstances..its too late...MCA MIC etc shed CROCODILE TEARS because their contributed to the Changed circumstances...by keeping silent as church RATS when the rights of their respective communities were being nibbled away....The Sikh leaders became defence ministers and cabinet ministers and CM of Punjab...and the SIKHS lost all rights...same in Malaysia...
 

Gyani Jarnail Singh

Sawa lakh se EK larraoan
Mentor
Writer
SPNer
Jul 4, 2004
7,708
14,381
75
KUALA LUMPUR MALAYSIA
Selangor PAS against unilateral child conversions to Islam

By Boo Su-Lyn
July 02, 2013

SHAH ALAM, July 2 — Selangor PAS commissioner Dr Abd Rani Osman (picture) today spoke out against a controversial proposed law on unilateral child conversions to Islam, saying such a “big” decision needed the consent of both parents.

Rani’s remarks come even as Pakatan Rakyat (PR) MPs declined to comment today on the Administration of Islam (Federal Territories) Bill 2013, saying that they needed time to study it first.

“Converting in religion is a big issue, not a small issue,” Rani told The Malay Mail Online at the sidelines of the Selangor state legislative assembly sitting here today.

“So, should get the consent of both,” said the assemblyman from the Islamist party.

The Meru assemblyman also stressed that there was no compulsion in Islam.

“If one parent converts and you want that child (to convert), give him information, but you cannot force,” said Rani.

PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar said earlier today that a PR joint committee has been formed to study the law that was tabled in Parliament last Wednesday.

The proposed amendment contained in section 107(b) of the Administration of Islam (Federal Territories) Bill has raised concerns among non-Muslim groups that more cases of unilateral child conversions to Islam may occur if the law is passed.

Several non-Muslim government leaders have openly condemned the Bill as unconstitutional and called on both Barisan Nasional (BN) and PR MPs to oppose it.

Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, however, defended the Bill yesterday, arguing that the proposed amendment was done according to existing laws.

But the Umno deputy president noted that the government will take into consideration all views given on the matter and Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom, the minister in charge of Islamic affairs, will be issuing a statement on the controversy soon.

Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam suggested earlier today that a translation error was at the centre of the religious row.

Dr Subramaniam reportedly said that the Malay version of section 107(b), which states the conversion of a minor requires the consent of a “parent or guardian”, was not in line with the English version.

The MIC deputy president noted that the Malay version translates the word “parent” to “ibu atau bapa” (“mother or father”).

Dr Subramaniam, who is the Segamat MP, also said he did not think that the Bill would be presented for voting in Parliament.

The Bar Council pointed out the translation error in a statement last week after the country’s largest non-Muslim faith group censured the proposed law.

Both the Bar Council and the Malaysian Consultative Council Of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism (MCCBCHST) ― the umbrella body of Malaysia’s non-Muslim creeds ― had said the Bill, which aims to broaden the definition of parental consent in the conversion of children under the age of 18 to mean either instead of both parents, was “unconstitutional”.

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.

In 2009, then Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz said the government will ban the unilateral conversion of minors to Islam, in an attempt to assuage concerns among religious minorities in the Muslim-majority country.

But cases since then, such as that of a Hindu mother in Negri Sembilan who discovered in April her estranged husband had converted their two underage children to Islam after he had done so a year earlier without her knowledge, illustrate the lack of adherence to the ruling.
- See more at: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/m...ild-conversions-to-islam#sthash.dpMXuEpu.dpuf
 
📌 For all latest updates, follow the Official Sikh Philosophy Network Whatsapp Channel:
Top