‘Break your silence on Indira Gandhi’s case, Najib’

The Prime Minister must show his political courage and will in resolving inter-faith custody issues

GEORGE TOWN: Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak should break his silence and make a firm and uncompromising Cabinet decision on inter-faith custody issues.

Ipoh Barat MP and DAP national vice-chairman M Kulasegaran said Najib must inform the public if his Cabinet was committed to enforcing its 2009 decision banning unilateral conversion of minors.

He said if so, Najib must publicly inform when the law would be amended in Parliament to conform with and enforce the executive ban.

But, he said if the Cabinet had abandoned the 2009 decision, the Prime Minister must explain to the people the reasons for the U-turn and how the government would resolve interfaith custody matters.

Kulasegaran is the legal counsel for M Indira Gandhi, who is involved in a bitter legal battle with her Muslim convert ex-husband Ridzuan Abdullah, previously known as K Patmanathan, over the custody of their youngest six-year-old daughter, Prasana Diksa.

“The Prime Minister must show his political courage and will in Indira Gandhi’s case and interfaith custody matters,” Kulasegaran said in a statement here today.

He pointed out that Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Jamil Khir Baharom, had said in a written reply to him on June 17 in Parliament that the government had no intention of amending the law in compliance with the Cabinet ban.

Jamil Khir quoted the case of Shamala Sathiyaseelan vs Dr Jeyaganesh C Mogarajah L Anor (2004) and said that based on the decision, the consent of one parent is sufficient in deciding a minor’s religion as the word parent in Article 12 (4) of the Federal Constitution is parent or guardian, and not parents or guardians that means either father or mother or guardian.

The Prime Minister has yet to break his silence on Jamil Khir’s reply.

In April 2009, Ridzuan took away Prasana, then 11 months old, and converted her and her two siblings, Tevi Darsiny, then 12, and Karan Dinish, then 11, to Islam without Indira Gandhi’s knowledge.

The High Court later granted Indira Gandhi full custody of all three children.

On May 30, Ipoh High Court judge Lee Swee Seng issued a warrant of arrest against Ridzuan for contempt after he repeatedly failed to return Prasana.

“Indira Gandhi’s agony and trauma are not yet over after five years of pain and suffering, even after having obtained a court order,” said Kulasegaran.

Bloody cow's head thrown in front of Rayer’s home

 

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A bloody cow's head was found in front of DAP’s Seri Delima assemblyperson RSN Rayer’s house in Jalan Tingkat Tembaga, Island Park this morning.

Rayer (right) said his wife discovered the head, which is completely skinned, when she was about to send their daughter to school this morning at about 7am.

“My wife alerted me at about that time and I went down and saw it was at my front gate,” he told Malaysiakini when contacted.

“We don't know who did it and why. We do not want to speculate,” he added.

“However, the owner of the shop in front of my house saw the incident, and said a man came by in his motorcycle and threw it there,” he said.

By 9am, police have cordoned off Rayer's semi-detached house and carted away the cow's head for investigation.

Rayer said the police also recorded a statement from him and took a copy of the CCTV footage.

"The recording showed that the unknown man came at 5.58am, he wore a helmet and (his face) was fully covered. After he did the act, he danced around," Rayer added, showing reporters a video clip of the CCTV.

"It would be hard to identify him," he lamented.

"My wife and I were shocked to see the cow's head. We feel it is a threat and an insult to our family," he stressed.

Guan Eng: Insult to all

Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, who arrived on the scene at 9.15am said he was appalled at the incident.

"The perpetrator insulted the whole community, not just to Rayer. It is a rude act and a threat to national security," he added.

Lim recalled that pro-Umno groups had done a similar act in front of the Selangor secretariat office in Shah Alam in 2009.

"I am not accusing pro-Umno groups of this incident but they had done something similar in 2009, which insulted the Hindu community," Lim said.

Lim also said that Perkasa leader Zulkifli Noordin's recent threat of the recurrence of May 13 and Prime Minister Najib Razak's remarks asking Umno to be like ISIL militants (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) can lead to acts of “disharmony”.

"If Najib had denied supporting ISIL militants, he must withdraw his remarks immediately," Lim said.

"The police must act against Zulkifli for his May 13 remarks if peace is to be restored or else it would appear as if it is okay to threaten minority groups," he added.

Meanwhile, Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi was reported saying this was the merely the "price" Rayer is paying for being "foul-mouthed", and that the latter should realise his “celaka Umno” had "angered the public".

“As a politician, I sympathise with him. But that is the price he has to pay for being foul-mouthed,” the online news site The Rakyat Post quoted him saying today.

'Celaka' remark

Rayer riled pro-Umno supporters when he uttered the words “Umno celaka” inside the Penang legislative assembly on May 20.

Pro-Umno supporters held a noisy rally outside the state assembly the next day, while 16 people forcefully barged into the hall looking for Rayer.

They demanded that Rayer apologise and withdraw his “celaka” remarks.

Rayer was arrested for his remark last week but his charge under Section 4(1)(b) of the 1948 Sedition Act at the Sessions court was postponed indefinitely, on an order from the Attorney-General’s Chambers.

The 15 intruders (one still at large) were charged in the magistrate’s court with trespassing.

Meanwhile northeast district police chief assistant commissioner Mior Farid Alatrash said the incident will be probed under Section 298A of the Penal Code.

"The section deals with causing disharmony, disunity, or feelings of enmity, hatred or ill will, or prejudicing, the maintenance of harmony or unity on grounds of religion," he told the media.

Should the far right only decide the Malay/Muslim community’s agenda?

Who speaks for the Malay/Muslim community? Political parties such as Umno, PAS and PKR? Or the likes of Datuk Ibrahim Ali, Datuk Zulkifli Noordin and the Isma leadership?

Who else?

Fact is, why is the Malay/Muslim community allowing the likes of Ibrahim Ali, Zul Noordin and the Isma fellows dictate the agenda for the country's most dominant demography?

These people are poor advertisements or poster boys for Islam and the supposed tolerance of the Malays – nature's finest gentlemen, according to the British.

There was a time when men like Datuk Onn Jaafar, Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Abdul Razak Hussein, Tun Dr Ismail Abdul Rahman, former Bank Negara governor Tun Mohd Ismail Ali were the ones who showed the finer side of the Malays.

But now, we have the few who are prone to rash and incendiary statements that want to provoke and incite rather than lead and influence the community to a better and peaceful future.

Why are the rest of the Malays quiet? Do they agree with this few or have given up to set things right? Do they want these few to represent them just as some extremists appear to dominate the narrative in countries like Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria, Iraq and other Muslim nations?

It is about time other voices come to the fore and show the finer nature of the community. Too much is at stake for them to keep quiet and let the loud and swaggering far right take centre stage.

We are talking here about the very future of Malaysia, the future of multiracial Malaysia and the future of multi-religious Malaysia.

Do we want to see a Malaysia that is less what it set out to be in 1963 and more a country of extremes and dominated by the few with a blinkered vision. Is this the Bangsa Malaysia that was envisioned in "The Way Forward" speech of 1991?

The reality is that we are all Malaysians and the majority are the Malays. They have to step up and take charge with their fellow Malaysians to take Malaysia forward as a country for all.

Educated Malays cannot trust the country's politicians or Umno to articulate their views or hold the line against extremism. They have to do it themselves and they have to do it right from today.

Malaysia is too precious to be left to the extremists who appear to want to instil their version of the Islamic State of Syria and the Levant. It is time we all stand up and let the far right know that they are the fringe and we are the centre.

That Malaysia is a country for all, in peace and harmony. Not for the few who spook and bully people to follow their narrow and racist path.

Another cow-head incident, another minister shows his lack of class

Blame Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi if you find Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi offensive, classless and an absolute duffer.

The former Umno Youth chief was consigned to political oblivion after resigning from the post, and was even detained under the Internal Security Act, after Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was sacked from the government in September 1998.

To those who have forgotten the illustrious history of Zahid, he was supposed to launch the attack against Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, accusing the then PM of cronyism and nepotism.

The attack did not take off and Dr Mahathir instead laid bare the hypocrisy of Zahid, showing how he had benefited from cronyism and how he had amassed millions of ringgit.

Zahid (pic) was politically dead until Abdullah brought him back into Umno and the government when he replaced Dr Mahathir as PM.

The rest as they say is history. Sadly. Zahid rose up the ranks and today is the home minister. What an irony? The man who allegedly beat the boyfriend of his daughter to pulp is now in charge of law and order.

He speaks like a thug; he can't differentiate when he should speak like an Umno man or the home minister, and is a daily reminder that Najib's XXL cabinet is full of incompetent individuals.

Today, instead of being disgusted and disturbed by the act of throwing a cow’s head in the compound of R.S.N. Rayer's home in Penang, he chastised the DAP man for having a loud mouth and said that he brought on the attack because he called Umno "celaka" in the state assembly recently.

Remember, this is the home minister speaking. It seems that he is endorsing the actions of those behind the cow-head incident.

He is speaking like another former home minister from Umno, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein, who sympathised with his party-men after they paraded around an area in Shah Alam with a cow’s head in 2009.

Do you think that any individual or group is going to be discouraged from repeating this offensive action against other Hindus? Is it any wonder that in recent months, minority groups have had animal carcasses thrown into places of worship and other places?

There is little downside to these provocative actions for them. Get caught? When was the last time the police arrested anyone worth arresting?

It is easy to just say that this is about Rayer and that other Malaysians should not get too excited about what Zahid said. Too easy in fact.

Zahid's flippant comment once again demonstrates that many in the government can't tell right from wrong, and don't understand a fundamental fact of governing: that those in position of leadership must be colour-blind and impartial in carrying out their duties.

Zahid has shown that he is incapable of being an honest broker. He is an Umno man, nothing more. He is just an offensive and classless individual.

Just another gift handed down to Malaysia by Abdullah Badawi, much like the toothless Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission and the discredited judiciary.

Kula to file contempt proceedings against IGP

 

Lawyer M Kulasegaran said he will proceed to file a case to cite inspector-general of police (IGP) Khalid Abu Bakar for contempt of court over a child custody case.

This is for failing to carry out several orders from the Ipoh High Court in relation to the interfaith custody battle, where the Ipoh Barat MP is the lawyer for the mother M Indira Gandhi.

The court orders include a committal order, an arrest warrant for Indira’s ex-husband K Pathmanathan @ Muhd Ridhuan Abdullah and a recovery order for the child Prasana Diksa.

Speaking at a press conference in Ipoh today with his client, Kulasegan chided the IGP as perhaps the only IGP in the world who would refuse to execute a warrant of arrest, and said Indira’s predicament could easily be solved if the Khalid (above) would just enforce the court orders.

There would be no need for the attorney-general (AG) to intervene either if the orders were enforced, he added.

“Today, after five long years of pain and sufferings and having obtained a court order for the child to be returned to her, Indira’s agony and trauma are not yet over due to the inaction of the IGP, the wrong advice of the prime minister and the wrong action of the AG," he said.

"The IGP Khalid has refused to enforce the committal order, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak has advised that the case be brought to the Federal Court, while the attorney-general (AG) Abdul Gani Patail wants to apply to intervene in both the civil and syariah courts and suspend their orders on the police,” he said in a statement today.

In the Indira’s case and a similar interfaith custody dispute in Seremban, the civil courts have awarded mothers the custody of the children overruling previous syariah court rulings that favoured the Muslim convert fathers.

The civil courts in both cases have also issued recovery orders for the children, which the police have refused to execute.

Blaming the purportedly conflicting court orders from the judicial  systems, Khalid said the police are caught in a dilemma over which court’s order to enforce.

“So we will not be enforcing either of the court orders. That is our stand,” he said.

This is despite the Ipoh court specifically ruling that its supercedes the syariah court's.

What of cabinet decision, Najib?

Meanwhile, Kula urged Najib to speak up on whether the cabinet still stands by its April 2009 decision on such custody disputes.

“Najib cannot keep silent on this issue. He must inform the public if his cabinet is still committed to the 2009 cabinet decision on unilateral conversions of minors and if so, when will the necessary law changes be tabled in Parliament.

“If his cabinet has abandoned the 2009 decision, the prime minister must explain to the people the reasons for the U-turn and how the government is going to resolve interfaith custody matters,” he said.

Citing the conflicting court orders from the judicial  systems, Khalid said the police are caught in   a dilemma over which court’s order to enforce.

“So we will not be enforcing either of the court orders. That is our stand,” he said.

In 2009, the cabinet decided in response to Indira’s plight that unilateral conversion of minors should be not be allowed, and laws will be changed to reflect that.

To date, the necessary amendments have yet to be made and the government has dragged its feet over the matter.

Bar Council president Christopher Leong yesterday mused that the amendments may have been "quietly forgotten".

Waytha: BN has to fulfill obligations to Hindraf otherwise face court -FZ.COM

MELBOURNE (June 25): The memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Hindraf and the federal government on April 18, 2013 is legally binding and could lead to court action if the BN fails to honour it.

So said Hindraf leader, P. Waythamoorthy, during a forum in Melbourne last night titled Malaysia At The Crossroads.

Waythamoorthy told the small crowd that the first line in the MoU clearly states that it is a binding agreement, and that the BN has to honour that despite him resigning from his government posts earlier this year.

The agreement caused an uproar within the Indian community when it was signed just weeks before the GE13, after which Waythamoorthy was appointed senator and deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Department.

He relinquished both positions eight months later claiming that the government had dragged its feet over implementing the MoU.

“But it doesn’t mean just because I’ve resigned that they shouldn’t fulfill their obligations, right?” Waythamoorthy said.

“We can take them to court but within two months the case will be thrown out and the matter will be forgotten. But we're not giving up."

“We’re consulting our team and re-strategising. Hindraf is very clear on what we want - solutions for our people. So we pressure the government to fulfill its promises and if it doesn't then at the right time, we have to take them to court.”

“We had no choice but to trust Umno”

The main question in the room last night was why Waythamoorthy even considered striking a deal with BN to which he replied that Hindraf had “no choice”.

He explained that Hindraf had held close to 25 meetings with Pakatan Rakyat in 2012 but reached a dead end when the opposition coalition refused to endorse any of the six demands.

“At the height of our discussions we even asked them to agree to just one of the demands but they still refused,” Waythamoorthy said. He however declined to elaborate on the reason behind Pakatan’s reluctance.

Hindraf was then “forced” to turn to BN which agreed to four of the six demands. According to Waythamoorthy, the BN also acknowledged that the Indian community had been neglected for 30 years and that the government had failed to register those born in Malaysia.

“We knew we were signing a pact with the devil but we couldn’t find the angel,” he said. “We were then obviously forced to support the government but our heart was bleeding. It was very difficult for us to openly tell our people to support BN.”

“But we did it for the sake of the poor and downtrodden, and because we had no choice. We could keep on fighting while the community continued sinking so we had to do the unthinkable.”

"Najib intended to fulfill his obligations"

After his resignation Waythamoorthy had hit out at Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak for being a “weak leader” who lacked the political will to make decisions and push for agreements to be implemented.

He reiterated this last night saying that Najib truly intended to fulfill his obligations towards Hindraf as he had been very involved in the negotiations, but he didn’t receive backing from his Cabinet.

“There were also objections from the MIC because if we were able to solve these issues then they would be irrelevant,” he added. “There were also the ultra-Umnos who didn’t want us to do our work because they couldn’t forgive us for raising the sensitive issue of Article 153.”

Waythamoorthy had declared in February that Hindraf would no longer strike any partnerships and would go solo in its quest to uplift the Indian community.

When asked if he would reconsider this stand if BN agreed to all Hindraf's six demands before the next general election, he was swift to answer, “Of course not!”

IGP: We're 'just monitoring' Indira's ex-husband

Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar has denied that police will arrest Indira Ghandi ex-husband for refusing a court order to return their child to her.

Instead, he said, Perak police are only searching for Riduan Abdullah @ S Pathmanathan to "monitor" him and "ensure the child is safe".

The IGP said police are not budging from its position not to enforce either the civil or syariah court order, which sided with Indira's ex-husband Riduan Abdullah, Bernama reports.

This follow's Malaysiakini's report quoting Perak police chief Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani (left) that it the state police is searching for Riduan @ S Pathmanathan following an order by the IGP.

He also said that police will take the same position in the custody battle between S Deepa and Izwan Abdullah @ N Viran, who snatched their son.

"The fact for the Perak and Negri Sembilan cases are the same. We first received a syariah court order instructing police to place the children with the father.

"Then we got a civil court order to place the children with the mother. So you see the conflict between the two court orders, which place the police in a dillemma over which order to enforce," he was quoted as saying in Seremban.

"So we will not be enforcing either of the court orders. That is our stand."

'Court will decide if I'm in contempt'

He also said that Article 121(1A) of the federal constitution places the syariah and civil courts at the same level.

Article 121 (1A) state that the civil court has no jurisdiction on matters under the jurisdiction of the syariah court.

Asked if his position means he is committing contempt of court, Khalid reportedly said it is up to the courts to decide on that.

He also urged online news portals to report the situation clearly to show that how the police are trapped between court orders.

Last month, the Court of Appeal rejected Izwan's application to stay the Seremban High Court's decision to award custody of their two children to Deepa.

The Ipoh High Court, meanwhile, found Riduan (above) in contempt for failure to return their youngest child to Indira, following a court order which awarded custody of their three children to Indira.

Malaysia is becoming so hateful; that is true. But I am not yet ready to hate it. Are you?

MALAYSIA is turning into a hateful country

Hate; it is such an ugly word. Yet I can’t think of anything else to describe what is happening here, the land where I am to spill my blood.

But then, why should I care? I am after all an intruder and immigrant.

Yes, I realise that when the racists speak about intruders and immigrants, they mean non-Malay intruders and immigrants; this despite the fact that many so-called Malays are actually of foreign origin. But I am not a hypocrite like them.

I know my roots and they spread to Yemen, to Medan, to Singapore. I wasn’t even born here. Yet I believe that I have as much right to be here as anyone else and my fellow Malaysians have just as much right as me.

And still the question remains: why should I care?

I don’t have the answer to that question because I am not a very philosophical man. Yet I know this; I have no desire to live in the Yemen, or Medan or Singapore.

And as much as I loved my significant time in England, I always knew that I would come home. And home is here, Malaysia.

Forgive the overly sentimental tangent this article is taking, but I am trying to make sense of my world as I write. It is hard to be purely analytical when one’s home is being slowly destroyed by the bigoted, small-minded, cruel and vicious.

This place is my home because I grew up here. My memories and therefore my identity are tied up to this place.

My tastes, my relationships, my way of thinking, in short everything that makes me the individual that I am, are due to this place.

But what kind of place is it now? It looks to me like the kind of place where the vicious can threaten to behead people, where those who are meant to be the final arbiters are unwilling or incapable of making judgments based on the principles they have sworn to uphold.

It is a place where cowardly leaders think only of their votes and not of making a stand against vile people and their vile deeds.

There is so much going on which is going to affect our basic needs of hearth and security. While the wheels of capitalism turn, we the ordinary folk are going to find it harder and harder to just make ends meet.

Yet we allow thugs to set the agenda. We allow non-issues to become national debating points. We allow the vicious to go on screaming malicious words with God on their lips and hatred in their hearts.

All this when we are living in a country with so much potential and wealth. If we can ensure that the truly needy, regardless of their creed or colour are protected and helped; if we can move our education system towards one where we produce thinking people and not well-educated automatons; if we can create a government in all its guises which is dedicated to honesty and the rule of law.

If we can do all these things, then the future will be more secure for all of us. It is there, within reach.

Instead there appears to be no light at the end of the tunnel and all I see is a darkness populated by the shrill screeching of the hatemongers.

It does not need to be like this. If the face of this country is as twisted and ugly to you as it is to me, we can still do something.

We can challenge our elected representatives into a corner. Force them to tell us where they stand.

We can support the downtrodden. We can gather together in huge numbers to make a stand not for any political reason, but to show the bigots that they are not the only ones in this land and that their cruel philosophies are not welcome.

We can think for ourselves and not simply allow those with so-called authority to dictate our thoughts for us. We can be fearless in deed, words and thoughts to uphold the values that surely any country needs to hang on to – fairness, compassion, kindness, freedom and justice.

This country is becoming so hateful; that is true. But I am not yet ready to hate it. Are you?

> Azmi Sharom lectures environmental and human rights law in a public university. He can be reached at azmisharom@yahoo.co.uk. The views expressed here are entirely his own. Via The Star

Thousands of wild birds imprisoned in shoplots

 

VIDEO | 0:54mins

PHOTOS

The question is not, “Can they reason?” nor, “Can they talk?” but rather, “Can they suffer?” - Jeremy Bentham.

Human are causing unnecessary trouble and distress towards animals which were created in this world. We do not have any reason for causing misery to the creatures which can’t express their feelings. We are the weak and cowardly creatures in this earth by troubling other living beings. For that reason the entire human race is suffering and fighting against each other. Karma will take revenge.

Recently, while I was teaching my brother how to drive a car, we went to a residential area where it was very quiet. That was my first time to enter that place. It was called Taman Jayamas phase 1, Jalan Tun Dr Ismail, Seremban. Negri Sembilan. When I passed by a shoplot, I heard terrific noises from birds which seemed like they were crying. It was a heartbreaking sound.

I do not have any idea or clue about the whole row of shoplots. I went to the second row where terrace houses were built, and I asked a resident, “Why are there a lot of birds sounds from the building?” According to him, a man who is allegedly the owner of the project has approximately thousands of birds in a shop. That means more than 10 shophouses have more than 500,000 birds caged or imprisoned in the shoplots.

The question is how did Majlis Perbandaran Seremban give a licence for such a cruel project? The worst part is there is no light in the building nor an electricity connection. I am not sure how often the birds were fed. There is no proper space for birds to get fresh air. There are a few holes in every building but they are not sufficient for them to get fresh air.

Besides this, the shoplots were plastered with cement because apparently they didn’t want the neighbours to listen to bird-crying and noises. Wild birds are not supposed to be kept in homes, what about thousands of them in a shoplot. Who is to be blamed?

In the first place who, how and why did Majlis Perbandaran Seremban approved a licence for rearing birds in a residential area? If this can happen, is it possible for others to rear chickens, goats, cows in the shop lots especially in residential areas? A big question mark arises here. It should not be possible for someone to do so even if he owns the shoplots.

Majlis Perbandaran Seremban is fully responsible for this animal cruelty. Malaysia should tighten animal cruelty laws. Last week I had highlighted dog killing by Majlis Perbandaran Johor Tengah, and this week bird-keeping within the jurisdiction of Majlis Perbandaran Seremban. Are we thinking that we are supreme towards all living beings which are created by the creator?

What I have mentioned above is just my own view. Now it is time for every Malaysian to watch and see the pictures which are linked above. Rational-thinking Malaysian should push the government to tighten animal cruelty laws. If the current government fails to listen to this request, I will highlight the case to international organisations.

MALAYSIA BRUTALITY WAYS OF KILLING STRAYS

THIS IS MALAYSIA WAYS OF KILLINGS STRAYS SHARE THIS TO SHOW HOW THE LOCAL COUNCIL MAJLIS PERBANDARAN JOHOR BAHRU TENGAH AT JALAN MAKMUR, SKUDAI KILLS 7 STRAY DOGS WERE IN THE LORRY. Mr.SUHANTHAN GHANESEN TRAILED THEM. WHAT HE SAW WAS SHOCKING. ALL WERE DRAGGED OUT, STRANGLED AND BEATEN TO DEATH WITH AN IRON ROD. SHARE THIS BRUTALITY TO THE WHOLE WORLD. THIS PLACE ON, 5 JUN 2014 AROUND 10.30 AM AT THE MBJB PREMISES.

'Tribunal better than court in custody tussles' - Mkini

 

Malaysian Muslim Lawyers Association president Zainul Rijal Abu Bakar has proposed that a three-member tribunal be formed to deal with interfaith custody disputes.

According to him, this is a better option as opposed to bringing the cases to the Syariah High Court or civil High Court.

Zainul (left) said this is because non-Muslims would not want to go to the syariah court and the converted spouse may not want to go to the civil High Court allegedly for fear they would not get a fair judgment.

He noted that religious disputes in Malaysia have become a "sensitive matter", saying in other countries like Brunei there are no problems of non-Muslims seeking justice in syariah courts even in hudud law matters.

Hence, Zainul proposed that existing laws such as the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act 1976 (Civil), and the various State Islamic Family Laws (syariah) be amended to cater for the formation of a tribunal to settle such disputes.

"I propose that the tribunal consists of a representative of the judiciary from the Civil High Court, the second member a judiciary from the Syariah High Court and the third panel member would be a representative appointed by the ruler, the sultan or the yang di pertua negeri.

"Having representatives from the Syariah and civil courts would ensure the interests of the conflicting parents would be safeguarded," he told Malaysiakini yesterday.

Asked over concerns of the ruler or sultan's representative not being able to act impartially, as the ruler is also the head of Islamic affairs, Zainul said they are not rulers for Muslims alone but also non-Muslims.

"There must be some level of trust in the ruler. If everything concerning Islam is not trusted then there would not be a resolution to this problem," he said.

Zainul added that once the tribunal arrives at a decision on the custody cases, the sultan or ruler could announce it and this would be final.

The parties involved, he said, should agree that the tribunal’s decision is final and cannot be appealed at the Federal Court.

On Wednesday, it was reported that Kedah PAS Youth and the Malaysian Consultative Council of Islamic Organisations (Mapim) proposed that the respective rulers step into the issue.

Two different jurisdictions?

Presently, a person who converts to Islam would go to the Syariah Court to seek custody of the children while the non-converting spouse would go to the civil High Court to settle the dispute.

This has resulted in conflicting orders.

In the past, interfaith custody battles like the R Subashini and S Shamala cases had been brought to the Federal Court but there was no resolution.

As an example, in the recent case of S Deepa (right), the police refused to act on the High Court ruling that granted her custody of her children overruling the earlier Syariah Court decision in favour of the father.

The judge ruled that the marriage was conducted under civil law prior to one of the spouse's conversion, and hence was bound by civil laws regardless.

Inspector-general of police (IGP) Khalid Abu Bakar however continued to claim there were "two rulings" and instead suggested that the children involved in the dispute be placed in childcare centres.

Commenting on the controversy, Syarie Lawyers Association Malaysia president Musa Awang argued both orders by the civil court and the syariah court are of equal strength and that is where the IGP faces a problem.

"The order issued by the civil court does not limit or result in the Syariah court order to be declared null and void," he said.

However, Zainul viewed that the IGP (left) was wrong in taking the middle path as he has to enforce the orders issued.

"He is the law or policy implementer and should be enforcing it (the laws) and not interpret at his own whim and fancy," he said.

"The proper way is for him to seek advice from the attorney-general over the matter," he added.

So far, the Attorney-General’s Chambers has been silent on this issue.

This despite a subsequent Ipoh High Court ruling on a separate case of M Indira Gandhi with similar circumstances where the ruling specifically mentioned that the civil court supersedes the syariah court rulings.

'IGP's childcare solution problematic'

Meanwhile, Musa said if the IGP wants to place the children in childcare centres, then based on Section 17 of the Child Act, a court order may be needed to do this.

Zainul pointed out that to see the plan through, the IGP or the police would have to make the application before the court, but the problem is they are not parties in the custody dispute.

Several politicians from BN and the opposition have slammed the IGP's stance of not abiding by the civil High Court order in the S Deepa and Indira Gandhi cases at the Seremban and Ipoh High Courts respectively.

Several lawyers when contacted have said that the civil court order is superior, as the syariah court order is not binding on non-Muslims, and in these cases, the non-converting spouse.

Musa, however, disagreed. He said both the Syariah High Court and the civil High Court have equal footing based on Article 121 (1A) of the federal constitution, which gives both courts its powers.

Ipoh court orders cops to find Indira's daughter - Malaysiakini

 

The Ipoh High Court yesterday directed the police to retrieve kindergarten teacher, M Indira Gandhi's youngest daughter Prasana Diksa within 30 days - failing which they would have to answer the court why they did not comply with the order.

Indira Gandhi's lawyer M Kulasegaran (left) told Malaysiakini it was rare for the court to issue such order but he was glad that Justice Lee Swee Seng had allowed it.

“The application was done ex-parte. The former husband's lawyers have been informed about it,” he added.

“With this order, the police are required to find and bring back the girl. If they fail to do so, they have to state the reasons via an affidavit.

"With this, Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar will have to comply with the order and not propose something else,” he said.

On Tuesday, it was reported that Khalid had proposed a middle path to resolve such inter-faith child custody disputes by placing the children in childcare centres for both parents to visit until their cases are settled.

The Ipoh Barat MP also revealed the Ipoh police had also called Indira Gandhi and him for a meeting to resolve the issue following the solution proposed by the IGP.

“However, we turned down the meeting. We want the police to comply with the order for them to get back the child,” said Kulasegaran.

June 6 deadline

Yesterday's court order follows Indira Gandhi's former husband K Pathmanathan @ Mohd Ridhuan Abdullah’s failure to comply with the Ipoh High Court order dated May 30, for Ridhuan to return the five-year-old girl by June 6.

Ridhuan had been found guilty by Justice Lee of contempt of court for not returning the child, an order the court was willing to revoke, should the father return Prasana Diksa or her Muslim name Ummu Habibah, to Kulasegaran or the mother by that time.

On May 30, Justice Lee also ruled that the civil High Court is superior to the syariah High Court and declared the latter’s order which granted custody of Prasana Diksa to Ridhuan, to be declared null and void.

Besides Prasana Diksa, the couple have a son and a daughter, who were also converted by Ridhuan to Islam but they are now staying with the mother following the Ipoh High Court order.

It was reported that following Ridhuan's failure to return the child, Indira Gandhi had wanted her former husband to be arrested for contempt.

Khalid’s  (right) ‘middle path’  to resolve inter-faith child custody disputes by placing the children in child care centres resulted in mounting criticism at the IGP from various quarters including BN and opposition politicians.

However the IGP reportedly said the police will stick to its position as it is 'sandwiched between' two jurisdictions of the syariah High Court and the civil High Court.

Several lawyers have argued that the police should follow the civil High Court order in such disputes.

Zarina's dad: I complained to Perkim - Malaysiakini

 

The father of the bride whose Hindu wedding was disrupted by Islamic authorities said that he had complained about his convert wife raising their children as Hindu to the Malaysian Islamic Welfare Association (Perkim).

However, Abdul Majeed Gulam Kader, 54, told Berita Harian that no action was taken on his complaint, which was lodged in 1996.

“So my wife and our children followed her earlier religion. My in-law's also interfered even before my children were teenagers, then I lost my job and became unemployed.

“My in-laws are Hindu but my wife converted to Islam in 1979. I was born Muslim, but libelous reports say that my name before converting was Mahendran,” he was quoted by the daily as saying.

Perkim, among others, assists those interested to convert or have converted to Islam.

Abdul Majeed reportedly said that his wife, who is bride Zarina's mother, converted to Islam at Perkim and that all his children were born of Muslim parents.

Children taught Hinduism

Abdul Majeed added that he was at loggerheads with his wife and in-laws as his wife's family insisted on exposing his children to Hindu teachings when he was at work.

The pressure led him to drug addiction, resulting in imprisonment for three months in 1990.

He said they became estranged after a fued with his in-laws in 2000 when he scolded another daughter for staying out late.

Zarina's wedding according to Hindu rites at a Petaling Jaya temple was disrupted by the Selangor Islamic Affairs Department (Jais) as the department suspected she is Muslim.

She insists that she was born and raised Hindu and was converted without consent by her estranged father, who converted to Islam.

Jais has since said that they will assist Zarina, who is now not in the country, to amend her name and religious status with the National Registration Department (NRD).

However, the NRD said that it can only change someone's religion status from Islam upon order form the Syariah Court.