Religion resurfaces as hot issue

From the Singapore Straits Times

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 11 — For several months, it seemed as though religious disputes were no longer the hot issue in Malaysia. Then over the weekend, it flared up again, with all the familiar reactions in attendance.

The emotional protest by several hundred Muslims that forced an abrupt end to a Bar Council forum on conversions to Islam was not the first such incident in Malaysia. But it was the first since the watershed March 8 polls in which race and religious disputes shaped the voters' response.

Political parties on both sides are now being watched closely for their response to last Saturday's events.

The response from the government has been predictable. Umno ministers, including Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak and Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar, have insisted that the matter should not be discussed openly as it is too sensitive.

Najib said yesterday that the Bar Council was “stubborn” in going ahead with its open forum on religious conversion, which had provoked the protests, and it was up to the Home Ministry and the police to decide whether to use the Internal Security Act.

The forum was aimed at discussing the impact on non-Muslim families when a spouse converts to Islam. Problems have cropped up repeatedly in the past few years, predominantly over custody. The Muslim parent is allowed, by law, to convert the minor child to Islam without the consent of the non-Muslim parent.

But this time, the non-Malay partners in the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition are being watched, and they cannot afford to be too reticent, not after their punishment at the hands of their electorate during the polls.

Several of their leaders have spoken out, although in fairly mild terms.

MCA publicity chief Datuk Fu Ah Kiow told The Straits Times yesterday that he was disappointed the matter had not been resolved after the many promises and discussions. He said there seemed to be no interest by the government to resolve the matter.

MIC Youth coordinator T. Mohan condemned the disruption of the forum, and urged government leaders to address the issue of non-Muslim husbands who abandon their families after converting.

The government has long promised reforms, and has set up a group of Islamic and legal scholars to hammer out a solution. It has proposed resolving these disputes behind closed doors by a special panel, or amending the law to require converting spouses to resolve their marriages through civil law.

But none of this has taken off, not surprisingly, since the matter has evolved and is now seen as a saga pitting Muslims against non-Muslims.

The non-Muslims see this as an infringement of Islamic law against their rights, while the Muslims see non-Muslim protests as Islam-bashing.

The government's response had been to sweep it under the carpet, but it may now come under pressure to act if the non-Malay BN partners speak out.

But while the government is coming under pressure, this episode is also turning out to be a test of sorts for the ideologically-disparate opposition coalition after a Parti Keadilan Rakyat MP Zulkifli Nordin led the protest.

He stressed that he was acting in his private capacity but this was not enough to defuse criticism from PKR partners. The Straits Times understands that even some leaders in his party, including the Muslims, are unhappy with his actions.

It has cast a pall over the PKR's multiracial stance and sparked a complaint from DAP MP Tony Pua.

PKR deputy president Syed Husin Ali yesterday sought to cool things, when he chided Zulkifli for his role in the protest. He said in a statement that the party regretted the protest.

It is an indication that the religious dimension will be equally difficult for both sides to handle.