The nation is now embroiled in a tussle over the supremacy between man-made laws and those believed to be divine.
Expressing her views on the matter, former Bar Council president Ambiga Sreenevasan has blamed the authorities for fueling this legal furnace that is threatening to scorch Malaysia.
According to her, the lack of action or selective prosecution in the past are the root causes of the current lawlessness in the land.
"Over the years, many of these groups have gone unpunished and were not reprimanded for their flagrant breaches of the law. It is alarming but not unsurprising, they now believe that they are above it," she said.
"This has emboldened certain NGOS to act with impunity, in particular NGOs who claim to defend Islam and Malays rights, who have been allowed a free reign," she toldMalaysiakini.
Ambiga lamented that there is no respect for institutions and the rule of law whereas the federal constitution is continuously undermined.
"We will regret this. In fact, we are already living to regret this sense of lawlessness. We must fix it," she added in reference to recent developments.
"Children are suffering, families are traumatised and leaders keep passing the buck and allow some NGOs to drive this agenda that causes pain to many," she added.
After interfaith custody battles, gatecrashing at a wedding and funeral, the latest controversy surrounds the Selangor Islamic Council's (Mais) refusal to return Malay and Iban language bibles as instructed by the attorney-general.
However, Ambiga believes that the situation can still be rectified if the rule of law is respected and the constitution upheld without fear or favour.
Cold feet on matters of religion
The former Bersih chairperson also took Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar to task as well.
Commenting on his refusal to enforce the civil court order regarding interfaith custody disputes, she said: "The IGP's position is wrong. It is unthinkable that he chooses to ignore a court order."
"The police chief appears to be afraid to enforce the law. He must do it. Even his predecessor (Musa Hassan) stated clearly that the police must enforce the court order," she added.
Khalid (left) had ignited a firestorm of protest when he decided to take the "middle path" due to conflicting judgments by the civil and syariah courts.
While the syariah court granted custody to the Muslim-convert ex-husbands, the civil court ordered that the children be placed in the care of their Hindu mothers.
The police chief, who complained about being "sandwiched" between the two judgments, suggested, much to the chagrin of various quarters, that the children be placed in childcare centres instead.
Breaking his silence on the stalemate last week, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak advised that the cases be brought to the Federal Court for a resolution.
Sharing her thoughts on this, Ambiga said while this is a possibility, the answer, however, is to resurrect the stalled legislation in relation to conversion as proposed by the government in 2009.
"Five years have passed with no solution. Legislation is the answer to resolving the impasse but unfortunately both the lawmakers and courts get cold feet when matters of religion is concerned.
"They hope the problem will vanish without doing anything. This is the problem when lawmakers are more interested in winning votes instead of solving difficult problems faced by the people," she added.
Najib's suggestion drew flak from both sides, with lawyers involved in the custody dispute dismissing it as "disappointing" while the Muslim Youth Movement (Abim) accused the premier of disrespecting the syariah court.
However, Ambiga said Abim was wrong in its criticism. "It was a misreading of the constitution," she added.
Expressing her views on the matter, former Bar Council president Ambiga Sreenevasan has blamed the authorities for fueling this legal furnace that is threatening to scorch Malaysia.
According to her, the lack of action or selective prosecution in the past are the root causes of the current lawlessness in the land.
"Over the years, many of these groups have gone unpunished and were not reprimanded for their flagrant breaches of the law. It is alarming but not unsurprising, they now believe that they are above it," she said.
"This has emboldened certain NGOS to act with impunity, in particular NGOs who claim to defend Islam and Malays rights, who have been allowed a free reign," she toldMalaysiakini.Ambiga lamented that there is no respect for institutions and the rule of law whereas the federal constitution is continuously undermined.
"We will regret this. In fact, we are already living to regret this sense of lawlessness. We must fix it," she added in reference to recent developments.
"Children are suffering, families are traumatised and leaders keep passing the buck and allow some NGOs to drive this agenda that causes pain to many," she added.
After interfaith custody battles, gatecrashing at a wedding and funeral, the latest controversy surrounds the Selangor Islamic Council's (Mais) refusal to return Malay and Iban language bibles as instructed by the attorney-general.
However, Ambiga believes that the situation can still be rectified if the rule of law is respected and the constitution upheld without fear or favour.
Cold feet on matters of religion
The former Bersih chairperson also took Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar to task as well.
Commenting on his refusal to enforce the civil court order regarding interfaith custody disputes, she said: "The IGP's position is wrong. It is unthinkable that he chooses to ignore a court order."
"The police chief appears to be afraid to enforce the law. He must do it. Even his predecessor (Musa Hassan) stated clearly that the police must enforce the court order," she added.Khalid (left) had ignited a firestorm of protest when he decided to take the "middle path" due to conflicting judgments by the civil and syariah courts.
While the syariah court granted custody to the Muslim-convert ex-husbands, the civil court ordered that the children be placed in the care of their Hindu mothers.
The police chief, who complained about being "sandwiched" between the two judgments, suggested, much to the chagrin of various quarters, that the children be placed in childcare centres instead.
Breaking his silence on the stalemate last week, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak advised that the cases be brought to the Federal Court for a resolution.Sharing her thoughts on this, Ambiga said while this is a possibility, the answer, however, is to resurrect the stalled legislation in relation to conversion as proposed by the government in 2009.
"Five years have passed with no solution. Legislation is the answer to resolving the impasse but unfortunately both the lawmakers and courts get cold feet when matters of religion is concerned.
"They hope the problem will vanish without doing anything. This is the problem when lawmakers are more interested in winning votes instead of solving difficult problems faced by the people," she added.
Najib's suggestion drew flak from both sides, with lawyers involved in the custody dispute dismissing it as "disappointing" while the Muslim Youth Movement (Abim) accused the premier of disrespecting the syariah court.
However, Ambiga said Abim was wrong in its criticism. "It was a misreading of the constitution," she added.
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