Solve mistaken religious identity cases, gov't told

The federal government has been urged to set up a special committee to sort out cases where non-Muslims have been registered as Muslims with the authorities, leading to hardships.

DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang (below) said that the committee should be set up by Cabinet and comprise the National Registration Department (NRD) and Islamic authorities.

He said that this should be done immediately “to provide speedy resolution and rescue from limbo” what he claims to be a few hundred cases of mistaken identities.

This follows the emergence of two cases involving a Buddhist man and Hindu woman who were respectively registered as Muslims at the NRD without their consent.

The Hindu woman, Zarina Abdullah Majid, had her wedding at a temple last Sunday disrupted by Selangor Islamic Affairs Department (Jais) officers who suspected her of being a Muslim, partly due to her name.

She had claimed that she was born and raised a Hindu but was registered as Muslim by her estranged father, who had converted to Islam but who has long since left the family.

Selangor Menteri Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim (right) described the raid as an “embarrassment” and said that the state and Jais will assist Zarina in changing her status with the NRD to avoid further complications.

Lim said that to prove his seriousness, Khalid and the Selangor executive council should set up a special committee comprising Jais to ensure this happens and to keep tabs on Jais on a weekly basis.

'Syariah Court order needed'

Selangor's assurance to help Zarina, 32, change her religious status, however, may hit a snag following NRD's stand on Buddhist man Johann Lim Noordin.

Astro Awani yesterday quoted the NRD as saying that it cannot change someone's religious status from Islam to another religion without an order from the Syariah Court.

NRD claims that Johann's mother is a Chinese Buddhist and his father an Indian Muslim, so the NRD registered Johann as Muslim when he was 13.

Johann, 32, says he was raised as Buddhist and had never embraced Islam and cannot marry the woman that he loves, who is non-Muslim, because of this problem.

According to Lim, the fact that such mistakes in birth certificates and MyKads cannot be rectified reflects poorly on Najib's (above)Government Transformation Programme (GTP).

“Islam is not under attack even with the rectification of the hundreds of cases of wrong and mistaken registration in birth certificates or identity cards of holders as Muslims when they are not.

“Can Najib explain why it is so impossible under his administration to resolve these few hundred cases... as he preaches the concept of wasatiyah (moderation) to reflect his commitment to uphold justice and harmony in Malaysia?” he asked.