Conversion Bill: DAP offers help to BN

DAP chairman Karpal Singh says DAP is willing to provide BN with the two thirds majority needed to end the row over unilateral conversion of minors.

KUALA LUMPUR: In a rare moment of unity, DAP chairman Karpal Singh today offered Barisan Nasional each DAP MP’s support to amend Article 12(4) of the Federal Constitution which relates to the religious conversion of minors.

Article 12(4) of the Federal Constitution states: “…the religion of a person under the age of eighteen years shall be decided by his parent or guardian”.

The Bukit Gelugor MP suggested today that an amendment could be made whereby the word “parent” was followed with “deemed to be both parents if both parents are alive”.

The amendment, he argued, would bring an end to the row over the Administration of the Religion of Islam (Federal Territories) Bill 2013 which, if passed, could allow a sole parent to convert children below 18 to Islam.

“The DAP will, in the public interest, provide the necessary support. It has 38 members of Parliament, nearly thrice the number the BN needs to secure a two-thirds majority,” Karpal said at a press conference in the Parliament lobby today.

“In the interests of humanity, such an amendment should secure the support of all members of Parliament on either side of the divide.”

The veteran politician said that if the Constitution remained unchanged, it was unlikely that Parliament would be able to stop the Bill from being bulldozed through.

He noted a court ruling in 2004 and 2007 which stated that use of the singular word “parent” in the constitution referred to the consent of a single parent, and was enough to validate the conversion of a minor to Islam.

“The decision of the Federal Court, the highest court in the land, would appear to tie the hands of Parliament,” Karpal said.

“Such an amendment would remove, once and for all, any doubt as to the intention of the framers of the Constitution who must have had such an objective in mind in the inclusion of Article 12(4) in that sacred document,” he said.

The controversial Bill has received flak from the public, Cabinet members and BN and Pakatan leaders alike for being “unfair” and “detrimental” to non-Muslims.

Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin has acknowledged there were “issues” with the Bill, but defended it as a reflection of the current situation.

He said last Monday the government would take into consideration the public’s views and examine the Bill carefully before an announcement is made by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of Islamic Affairs Jamil Khir Baharom.
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Karpal: Federal Court ruling grammatically wrong

A 2007 Federal Court ruling allowing for unilateral conversion of a child to Islam was “grammatically wrong”, DAP national chairperson Karpal Singh said today.

Karpal, who is also a lawyer, said that the court’s ruling was a wrong interpretation of the word 'parent' under Article 12 (4) of the federal constitution.

He urged the Parliament to “depart” from the Federal Court decision and not be tied down by the ruling because the judiciary “is but an arm of the government”.

The Federal Court decision on Dec 27 2007 ruled that a single parent was enough to convert a child to Islam based on the word 'parent' that appeared in the federal constitution.

The court ruled in favour of a Hindu father who had converted his underage child to Islam, holding in essence that the constitution rendered the consent of a single parent enough to validate the conversion of a minor to Islam.

However, Karpal said that the word 'parent', in its essence, should refer to both the mother and father and should not refer to one parent alone.

"Parent should mean both the mother and father," he said during a press conference at Parliament lobby today.

He stressed that there was no need to add a 's' at the back of the word 'parent' in order to make it plural, that the current provision of the the word 'parent' was written with the intention of referring to both parents.

"There is no need. The current provision is right. The interpretation by the Federal Court is wrong," he said.

He said that grammatically, the word parent should mean both parents "if they are alive".

"Any other interpretation would lead to a manifestation of injustice," he said.

"Islam should be not allowed to be used in the perpetration of injustice," he added.

NGOs condemn disruption of movie screening

They claim violation of rights by KDN and police who tried to stop the showing of a documentary on the Sri Lanka civil war.
VIDEO INSIDE

KUALA LUMPUR: Several human rights groups have condemned the Home Ministry (KDN) and the police for disrupting a private screening of a documentary film at the Chinese Assembly Hall last night and harassing the organisers and audience.

Representatives of the KL & Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall Civil Right Committee (KLSCH CRC), Komas and Suaram told a press conference today that KDN officials and police barged into the screening room about 30 minutes after the start of the documentary, a British production about the Sri Lanka civil war entitled “No Fire Zone”.

“They came in and told us to stop the screening,” said Komas director Arul Prakash. “We didn’t stop. However, after the show, they insisted on checking the identity cards of all the participants. Why was there a need to ask the audience to produce ICs? It was ridiculous and an intimidation.”

The organisers said the enforcement team, numbering about 30, ordered them to go the Dang Wangi police station and they obeyed, thinking they merely had to get their statements recorded. However, to their surprise, they were informed that they were under arrest, they added.

“We asked the officers if we were being arrested, but at first they said ‘No,’” Prakash said. “We were informed we were under arrest only midway through the interrogation.

KLSCH Civil Committee chairman Liau Kok Fah said his organisation had earlier received a letter from the Sri Lankan embassy asking it not to screen the documentary.

“We received a fax from the embassy and we were accused of supporting terrorism,” Liau said. “They wanted us to stop the show, but why are they interfering in Malaysian NGO matters?

“We invited them to attend the show so we could get their side of story. But they never came.”

Prakash said Komas had told the Sri Lankan government through its embassy to hold a dialogue with the Malaysian public instead of hiding behind the government in Putrajaya in trying to repress free speech.
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MIC leader says sorry to two DAP men

Seri Delima assemblyman RSN Rayer and his personal aide, S Sivalingam, have withdrawn their libel suit after Penang MIC youth chief J Dhinagaran apologised in court.

GEORGE TOWN: Penang MIC youth chief J Dhinagaran has apologised in court for making graft allegations against DAP’s Seri Delima assemblyman RSN Rayer and his personal aide, S Sivalingam.

Dhinagaran, who had accused Rayer and his aide of alleged abuse of power and corrupt practice in March, retracted his accusations before Judicial Commissioner Nurmala Salim at the High Court here today.

The MIC leader, who is represented by his counsel M Rueben, also promised not to repeat the allegations.

In his written apology, Dhinagaran said he realised that the allegations had no truth after going through all the relevant documents again.

JC Nurmala ordered both parties to bear their own costs.

On March 20, Rayer and Sivalingam filed libel suits against Dhinagaran for making the allegations that were reported by the Kuala Lumpur Post on March 8 and FMT on March 11.

The duo had sought an apology and special damages from Dhinagaran.

With Dhinagaran’s apology, Rayer and Sivalingam withdrew their suits.

‘Conversion bill signals Umno’s demise’

DAP's Ramakrishnan says it's part of an agenda to punish non-Malay voters.

GEORGE TOWN: A former senator today linked the tabling of the controversial religious conversion Bill to an alleged Umno agenda to punish non-Malays for rejecting Barisan Nasional in the 13th general election.

S Ramakrishnan, an official of Selangor DAP, said in a press statement that Umno was becoming increasingly insensitive to the feelings of non-Malays, especially since the May 5 election.

However, he added, the party’s attempt to whip up chauvinistic sentiments was bound to backfire and would hasten its downfall. The results of the recent election, according to him, could be taken as a sign that Umno’s end was near, for it showed that young and urban Malays were turning their backs on the party.

Ramakrishnan also said the bill to amend the Administration of Islamic Law (Federal Territories) Act, if passed, would scuttle Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s programme to shape the character of Malaysia’s plural society into one that would be deserving of the “Truly Asia” label.

“The Malaysia-is-Truly-Asia image that the country is trying hard to push is the diametric opposite of the increased radicalisation of Umno,” he said. “This is truly worrying.”

The bill, which was tabled last week, includes a clause that allows the mother or father or guardian of a minor to convert him or her to Islam without the consent of the other parent.

Many BN leaders outside Umno have expressed strong objections to the clause, arguing that it was fundamentally unjust as it denied the right of one parent over his or her children.

Ramakrishnan noted that the Federal Cabinet in 2009 had decided that the consent of both parents would be required in the conversion of minors. He asked why the government had now decided to go against that decision.

He also asked the promoters of the Bill to explain why they were going against the opinion of respected Islamic scholars on the question of religious conversion.

He quoted the following statement by Egyptian Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa:

“The essential question before us is: Can a person who is Muslim choose a religion other than Islam? The answer is: ‘Yes, they can’ because the Qur’an says, ‘Unto you your religion, and unto me my religion,’ [Qur'an, 109:6] and ‘Whosoever will, let him believe, and whosoever will, let him disbelieve,’ [Qur'an, 18:29], and, ‘There is no compulsion in religion. The right direction is distinct from error’ [Qur'an, 2:256].”
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