Islamic officials seize Hindu man's family

The Straits Times, April 21, 2007
By Carolyn Hong, Malaysia Bureau Chief

Hindu rubber tapper seeks release of wife and six children in latest controversy


KUALA LUMPUR - ANOTHER religious controversy is brewing, even as the government seeks to assure Malaysians that it is taking steps to resolve the endless string of such disputes.

A Hindu rubber tapper, Mr Marimuthu Periasamy, on Thursday filed an application in court for the release of his wife and six children who were taken away by Islamic religious officials two weeks ago.

They did not tell him why, but he believes that they were sent for rehabilitation on the grounds that they are Muslims.

He stated in his affidavit that he and his wife, Mrs Raimah Bibi Noordin, are Hindus, and their children are being brought up as Hindus.

'He contacted the DAP (Democratic Action Party) for help, and we took on the case,' said his lawyer Karpal Singh, who is national chairman of the DAP.

According to Mr Marimuthu, seven officers from the Selangor religious department took his wife and children away from their home in Ulu Yam Lama, a village in Selangor.

Mr Marimuthu, 44, then lodged a report with the Ulu Yam Baru police station.

He said he met his wife only once since she was taken away, when she returned to help out in rubber-tapping, and she told him the family is now staying in a nearby Malay village.

Mrs Raimah Bibi is an Indian who was adopted by an Indian Muslim family as a child. Her religion was recorded as Islam when she applied for a MyKad, an identity card. The couple's children are registered as Hindus.

No hearing date has been set for Mr Marimuthu's court application.

In another controversy which was highlighted earlier, a woman, Mrs Revathi Masoosai, lost her 15-month-old daughter to her Muslim mother.

Mrs Revathi, 29, was sent to a rehabilitation centre. She was born to Indian Muslim parents but claimed that she was raised as a Hindu by her grandmother. She married according to Hindu rites in 2004, but the marriage is not legally recognised.

Her husband is fighting for the return of his wife and daughter. The case came to light when a DAP lawmaker brought it up in Parliament.

'It is most shocking that there is a lengthening list of cases of families being broken up by religious authorities,' parliamentary opposition leader Lim Kit Siang said.

Race relations in Malaysia are increasingly being strained by the series of religion-related disputes. The government has yet to take steps to resolve the tension despite promising to do so more than a year ago.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Nazri Aziz said last week that the Attorney-General's Chambers was working on several proposals.

He said a special commission could be set up to resolve such issues. The proposed commission should comprise heads of the different religions but the Cabinet has to approve the proposal first.

'It cannot be denied that such cases have raised a lot of sensitive questions,' Datuk Nazri was quoted by The Star as saying.

The AG's Chambers is also reviewing laws on marriage and divorce relating to the conversion to Islam of young children.

This became an issue after two controversial cases in which the mothers nearly lost custody of their children after their estranged husbands converted their children to Islam.

Former Bar Council president Kuthubul Zaman Bukhari, who was involved in the initial discussions, said the revised law would require those who entered into a civil marriage to resolve subsequent problems in a civil court even after conversion.

'This is the better solution,' he told The Straits Times.

He also said a commission could assist in resolving religious disputes if all the religions were represented.

Currently, Muslim religious leaders are, by choice, not represented in any of the interfaith organisations.