Malaysia's debate on religious freedoms tests reputation

Associated Press news agency
23 January 2006


Malaysia's debate on religious freedoms tests reputation

(AP)--Malaysia was caught Friday in a debate over religious freedom
for Muslims and minorities alike in two separate controversies that
could stain its reputation as a progressive Islamic country.

In one dispute, the government forbade a state-backed Islamic group
from sending volunteer squads to thwart public cuddling, and in the
other a group of Cabinet ministers asked the prime minister to rein
in a powerful Islamic court whose rulings cannot be appealed by non-
Muslims.

Analysts say the controversies must be put to rest quickly by Prime
Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi so that all religious communities are
satisfied.

"The nation wants him to act," said Chandra Muzaffar, a well known
Muslim social commentator of Indian descent. "We cannot sweep these
things under the carpet. These issues are complex and they seem to be
the consequence of a certain mind-set prevalent within the religious
bureaucracy."

The bigger predicament facing Abdullah is the rare show of force by
the 10 non-Muslim ministers in his Cabinet.

Nine of them gave him a memorandum Wednesday - the 10th minister is
out of the country - calling for a review of religion-related laws to
protect the rights of minorities, especially concerning rules on
religious conversions, which appear to favor Muslims.

The nine Hindu, Buddhist and Christian ministers also asked him to
review a provision in the constitution that says civil courts have no
jurisdiction over the Islamic Sharia Court, the New Straits Times
newspaper and national news agency Bernama reported Friday.

Meanwhile, a state-backed Islamic group was forced Friday by the
government to disband a newly created volunteer patrol squad tasked
with preventing Muslims from committing vice, after the plan drew
criticism from Muslims worried about invasion of privacy.

The 75-member volunteer group was supposed to monitor Muslim couples
in public and report them if found to be holding hands, kissing in
public or showing affection in an "indecent" manner.

Abdullah's government said no such group would be allowed anywhere in
the country.

Chandra, the commentator, said the two controversies do not so far
not seem to have seriously hurt Malaysia's moderate image, because
religious communities still had their fundamental liberties intact.

Religion, race and ethnicity are extremely sensitive issues in
Malaysia, where the Malay Muslims form 60% of the country's 26
million people. Chinese and Indians, who are mostly Buddhists,
Christians and Hindus, form the rest.

The government is a coalition led by Abdullah's Malay party, known by
its acronym UMNO, which has the support of Indian and Chinese parties.

The minority parties rarely question UMNO. But the ministers' plea
for a review of the constitution reflects mounting frustration among
minorities following a number of religion-related disputes where the
Muslim point of view prevailed.

The ministers' memorandum was triggered by the burial last month of a
Hindu-born soldier, Maniam Moorthy, by Islamic authorities, who took
custody of his body saying he had secretly converted to Islam in 2004
without telling his family.

His conversion was confirmed by the Sharia Court. Moorthy's widow
could not appeal in the Sharia Court because she is not a Muslim, and
the Civil High Court rejected her plea, saying it has no jurisdiction
over a Sharia decision.

The constitution guarantees freedom of religion, and Islamic laws are
applied only on Muslims through the Sharia Court. But the ministers
and civil rights groups say such legal loopholes that left Moorthy's
widow without justice need to be plugged.

Separately, on Thursday, the Sharia Court fined a senator who
divorced his wife through a mobile phone text message.

Delivering his sentence, Judge Zainor Rashid Hassin said when senator
Kamaruddin Ambok, 52, married he went through several Islamic
rituals, as mandated by law. "Now, why can't you divorce someone
properly as well?" asked the judge.