The DAP vice-chairman urged the government to give a proper and full explanation on why the bill was “hastily” retracted today without any valid reason being given.
“Did the cabinet unanimously agree to this?” he said in a statement.
He also asked if a watered-down bill would be tabled instead after the “surprise” move to withdraw the draft legislation.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Azalina Othman Said, said at the beginning of the Dewan Rakyat sitting today that the bill, which was presented in November last year, was being withdrawn.
It aimed to resolve conflicts arising from interfaith custody battles between Muslim and non-Muslim parents.
It followed several cases of custody battles that went to the courts when one spouse converted the child without the consent of the other, causing trauma for all parties, especially the young children involved.
The amendments included a new provision with regard to the religion of the child, with Section 88A(1) stating that if a parent converted to Islam, the religion of the children would remain the same unless both parents agreed to the conversion of their children.
“This move is most surprising as all and sundry expected the bill to be passed in this sitting,” Kulasegaran said.
Kulasegaran said the origins of the bill could be traced to the incident in 2007 when a Hindu named K Pathmanathan converted to Islam (changing his name to Muhammad Riduan Abdullah) after having married Indira Gandhi, also a Hindu.
“In the process he had also converted his three under-aged children to Islam. The conversion was without consent, presence and or approval of the children or Indira,” he said.
“I immediately raised the matter in Parliament and the then de facto law minister Datuk Seri Nazri (Aziz) said the cabinet had issued a directive that when a parent converts to another religion the religion of the child shall remain unchanged and status quo shall remain until the child attains the age of majority.”
Kulasegaran said the Cabinet formed a “conversion” committee to ascertain how the controversial conversions could best be handled, and how appropriate legislation could address the issue.
“Nothing was concluded by this committee and later three other similar committees were formed but there was still no permanent suggested solutions,” he said, adding that it dragged on until the bill was tabled last year.
Putrajaya will however table new amendments to the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) (Amendment) Bill 2016 tomorrow morning.