The cabinet must step in and resolve the custody
battle between S Deepa and her former husband, Muslim convert Izwan
Abdullah, since the police and Home Ministry do not want to, Gerakan
Youth said today.
If the police and Home Ministry cannot act because of their claim of “conflicting jurisdictions”, then the very least they can do is investigate the case and refer the matter to the attorney-general (AG), Gerakan Youth chief Tan Keng Liang said.
“In the current case, there's a High Court order granting the mother custodial right over the children. Whether the earlier syariah court order granting custodial right of the children to the father still stands should have been referred to the AG.
“Currently,
there seems to be overlapping jurisdiction between the civil and
syariah courts on matters involving the religious conversion of a spouse
when the other spouse refuses to convert and does not consent to the
conversion of their children,” Tan (left) said.
He said the cabinet had, in 2009, decided that both parents must agree before the conversion of minors to another religion.
However, Tan added, this cabinet decision was not made into law.
“The law must be clear to ensure the syariah court cannot have jurisdiction to convert minors without the consent of both parents. The syariah court should also not have jurisdiction to grant custodial rights over minors who were not converted with the consent of both parents.”
Therefore, Tan said, he hopes the cabinet will intervene, and take the lead to resolve the matter as the government's official stand at present not to take action is seen as superseding its 2009 decision, unless the cabinet announces otherwise.
'Remove overlapping jurisdiction'
“Gerakan Youth hopes the cabinet will take lead in Parliament by enacting laws to remove overlapping jurisdiction on this matter,” said Tan, adding that he hoped BN and Pakatan Rakyat would work together to resolve this long standing issue as it is above politics.
The High Court in Seremban last Monday granted Deepa her divorce from her former husband Izwan and granted her custody over her two children, a son aged six and a daughter aged nine.
However, Deepa will have to file a separate application to overturn the conversion of her children to Islam, which was done without her knowledge.
Two days after the High Court order, Izwan went to Deepa's house in Jelubu and forcefully took away their son.
Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar, who was asked what the police would do about the kidnapping report by Deepa, said the police cannot act against Izwan as there are two court orders. Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has also come out in support of Khalid's position.
'Najib must state his stand'
Meanwhile, in a separate statement, DAP's Seputeh MP Teresa Kok said that Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak should state his stand on the matter.
This follows contradicting statements by Ahmad Zahid and fellow cabinet minister, Tourism Minister Nazri Abdul Aziz (left), who said that Izwan's action was kidnapping and that police should act.
"The prime minister must not remain silent and must immediately declare the government’s stand on the abduction issue," she said.
She asked if the government still holds on to the 2009 cabinet decision that children will raised under the "common religion at the time of marriage" should a parent convert after marriage.
"Najib should let Malaysians know if he is still committed to this decision, and if so, when will his government make the necessary law changes to bring about a permanent solution to the issue of unilateral conversions," she added.
If the police and Home Ministry cannot act because of their claim of “conflicting jurisdictions”, then the very least they can do is investigate the case and refer the matter to the attorney-general (AG), Gerakan Youth chief Tan Keng Liang said.
“In the current case, there's a High Court order granting the mother custodial right over the children. Whether the earlier syariah court order granting custodial right of the children to the father still stands should have been referred to the AG.
“Currently,
there seems to be overlapping jurisdiction between the civil and
syariah courts on matters involving the religious conversion of a spouse
when the other spouse refuses to convert and does not consent to the
conversion of their children,” Tan (left) said.He said the cabinet had, in 2009, decided that both parents must agree before the conversion of minors to another religion.
However, Tan added, this cabinet decision was not made into law.
“The law must be clear to ensure the syariah court cannot have jurisdiction to convert minors without the consent of both parents. The syariah court should also not have jurisdiction to grant custodial rights over minors who were not converted with the consent of both parents.”
Therefore, Tan said, he hopes the cabinet will intervene, and take the lead to resolve the matter as the government's official stand at present not to take action is seen as superseding its 2009 decision, unless the cabinet announces otherwise.
'Remove overlapping jurisdiction'
“Gerakan Youth hopes the cabinet will take lead in Parliament by enacting laws to remove overlapping jurisdiction on this matter,” said Tan, adding that he hoped BN and Pakatan Rakyat would work together to resolve this long standing issue as it is above politics.
The High Court in Seremban last Monday granted Deepa her divorce from her former husband Izwan and granted her custody over her two children, a son aged six and a daughter aged nine.
However, Deepa will have to file a separate application to overturn the conversion of her children to Islam, which was done without her knowledge.
Two days after the High Court order, Izwan went to Deepa's house in Jelubu and forcefully took away their son.
Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar, who was asked what the police would do about the kidnapping report by Deepa, said the police cannot act against Izwan as there are two court orders. Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has also come out in support of Khalid's position.
'Najib must state his stand'
Meanwhile, in a separate statement, DAP's Seputeh MP Teresa Kok said that Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak should state his stand on the matter.
This follows contradicting statements by Ahmad Zahid and fellow cabinet minister, Tourism Minister Nazri Abdul Aziz (left), who said that Izwan's action was kidnapping and that police should act."The prime minister must not remain silent and must immediately declare the government’s stand on the abduction issue," she said.
She asked if the government still holds on to the 2009 cabinet decision that children will raised under the "common religion at the time of marriage" should a parent convert after marriage.
"Najib should let Malaysians know if he is still committed to this decision, and if so, when will his government make the necessary law changes to bring about a permanent solution to the issue of unilateral conversions," she added.
No comments:
Post a Comment