PETALING JAYA: The government must clearly define the jurisdiction of the Syariah and Civil courts over conversion matters, and apply rulings consistently, to avoid any debates and confusion regarding the issue.

All Women’s Action Society (Awam) spokesperson said all necessary measures must be taken to ensure the safety of children, and to uphold the parental rights of non-Muslim spouses who lose custody of their children.

Awam’s statement comes in light of Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom’s claim that a parent would not be prevented from unilaterally converting his or her child to Islam without the consent of the other spouse.

“Protection must be in place for non-Muslim spouses, such as the need for their informed and voluntary consent, so that they do not suffer the effects of unilateral conversion.

“In all cases of child custody, rigorous and relevant consideration, such as records of domestic violence, must also be taken over the appropriateness of guardians,” she told theSun in an email today.

Jamil Khir had said that unilateral conversions would not be banned as it would contradict Article 12(4) of the Federal Constitution, which provides for the religion of a person under the age of 18 years to be decided by his parent or guardian.

However, Awam stressed that the wording “parent or guardian” must be taken with the Eleventh Schedule of the constitution that dictates “words in the singular include the plural, and words in the plural include the singular”.

“This means that regardless of their gender, both parents or all existing guardians of the child must be consulted before religious conversion can take place,” she added.

Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism (MCCBCHST) chairman Jagir Singh said if Article 12(4) were to be so interpreted as by Jamil Khir, then a single parent could one day convert a child to one religion, and the next day converted by the other parent to another religion.

He said if a single parent was allowed to convert a child, then there would be no justice and finality in the matter and it would have the effect of ignoring the constitutional provisions.

“If (this unilateral conversion) approach is taken, then this matter would persist even for the next 100 years, as justice is being denied to the non-converting spouse, and the matter could never be put to rest,” he said.

Meanwhile, MIC Youth Chief Sivarraajh Chandran said he was appalled by Jamil Khir’s lack of understanding of the constitution, and accused the latter of “unilaterally interpreting” it to suit his and the needs of certain people.

He said the Attorney-General had interpreted the word “ibu bapa” in finality in 1970 as meaning in the plural – parents – and that this was the only way forward for the conversion controversy.

“What is so difficult to understand such a simple term? Every school child will knows this ‘ibu bapa’ term,” he said in a statement.

He said certain people, like Jamil Khir, would like to reinvent the constitution in the syariah image, giving pre-eminence to Islam, but noted that this was not what the framers of constitution originally intended.

Umno veteran Tan Sri Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah said unilateral conversion was wrong and must be resolved immediately.

“You can’t (convert unilaterally). I don’t think so (it’s right). But it is a long evolving discussion and you have to sit down and get a full explanation from the Cabinet,” he told theSun outside the Parliament lobby.

He acknowledged the fact that the ministers involved have been reluctant to comment about the matter.

Opposition leaders also slammed Jamil stressing that the people are shocked by the answer which is a setback to the progress on promised reforms on the matter.

M. Kulasegaran (DAP-Ipoh Barat) questioned whether Jamil’s parliamentary answer is the latest and new policy stand taken by the Cabinet Committee appointed to look into the matter.

“The Prime Minister has to step in to clear the air and assert that the 2009 Cabinet directive on unilateral is very much intact.

“He should be bold enough to ask Jamil to withdraw the new stand which is unfair, illogical and unreasonable. The U-turn must be shot down immediately,” he told a press conference at the Parliament today.

-theSundaily, May 24, 2016