In a statement today, it said the Federal Court’s ruling to set aside the unilateral conversion of M Indira Gandhi’s three children to Islam today should be a “wake-up call” for the authorities to conduct their duties without bias.
It said they were trusted by the public to administer religious affairs in a fair and transparent manner.
“While Bebas agrees that parents should be free to bring up their children under their custody in any religion, including Islam, documented religious conversion of a minor must require the consent of both parents,” it said.
It said the state governments of Perak, Kedah, Melaka, Negeri Sembilan, Sarawak, Perlis, Pahang and Kelantan should amend their respective Islamic enactments to explicitly state that approval of both parents was needed to convert a child below 18 years of age to Islam.
The enactments in Penang, Selangor, Terengganu, Johor and Sabah already state that the consent of both parents was necessary for any conversion of a minor.
Bebas also said children should not have their religion documented on paper until they turned 18 and gave consent to entering their own faith into the official system.
In a landmark decision this morning, the Federal Court set aside the conversion of Indira’s children after ruling that any conversion of minors to Islam must get the consent of both parents.
The court also decreed that only the civil court would decide on such matters.
The ruling put an end to the inter-faith custody battle that followed after Indira’s ex-husband Muhammad Riduan Abdullah, formerly known as K Pathmanathan, converted her three children without her knowledge in 2009.
In April 2009, Indira’s Muslim convert ex-spouse snatched away their youngest daughter Prasana Diksa then aged 11 months old, before unilaterally converting the three children in their absence.
Four months later, on Oct 29, 2009, Riduan obtained a Syariah Court order, awarding him custody for all the three minor children.
In a landmark ruling on March 11, 2010, the Ipoh High Court overruled the Syariah Court’s decision by providing Indira with full custody for her three children, thus ordering Riduan to return the children back to Indira’s care.
Indira’s ex-husband Riduan went against the Ipoh High Court’s ruling by refusing to hand over the couple’s youngest child to her.
On July 25, 2013, judge Lee Swee Seng overturned the conversion of Indira’s three children to Islam by her ex-husband in 2009, thus declaring that the certifications of conversion were unconstitutional and null.
Lee cited provisions under Perak Shariah law where the children must be present to utter the affirmation of faith or the “syahadah”.
He said the Perak state enactment required a child to be present before a certificate of conversion could be issued.
On May 30 2014, Lee cited Riduan for contempt and issued a warrant of arrest against him after he repeatedly failed to hand over Prasana Diksa to Indira. Judge Lee also instructed the police force to locate Riduan and return Prasana back to Indira.
However, former inspector-general of police Khalid Abu Bakar refused to get involved, saying that the police does not wish to take sides between the Syariah court and the civil court’s decisions on the case.
On Dec 30, the Court of Appeal overturned the ruling by the Ipoh High Court that the conversion of Indira Gandhi’s children was void. The court did not make a ruling on the eldest child’s conversion as she had by then turned 18.
Both parents’ consent needed to change a child’s religion, says apex court
Court rules in Indira’s favour, sets aside conversion of children
Civil courts have the power, say judges as top court quashes conversion certs