Islamic authorities cannot overstep boundaries, says interfaith group

Jagir Singh says it is clear that the Shariah Courts are subordinate courts and as such, the police must enforce civil court orders. – June 26, 2014.

The national interfaith council broke its silence on two contentious religious issues involving the seized Bibles and child custody battles, saying Islamic religious authorities cannot overstep their boundaries.

Commenting on the child custody battle in Ipoh and the refusal of the Islamic authorities in Selangor to return the seized Bibles, the interfaith council urged the Attorney-General to clear the air over the roles of the civil and Shariah courts.

The Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikkhism and Taoism (MCCBCHST) said a recent statement by the Inspector-General of Police that the civil and Shariah courts were of the same standing was wrong.

Instead, council president Jagir Singh said that it was very clear from at least three Federal court decisions that the Shariah courts were subordinate courts.

"The point made by the IGP (Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar) that the courts are equal under Article 121 is not correct.

"As such the police must enforce the civil court orders," he said.

Jagir's comments came in the wake of  Khalid saying that both courts were of the same status, in his reluctance to locate a Muslim convert father who is embroiled in a bitter child custody battle.

Khalid had said the facts were clear that there was a conflict as Article 121 (a) clearly stated that the Shariah court status was similar to that of the civil court, adding that as such, the police would "remain in the middle" in child custody battles involving a Muslim spouse.

The Ipoh High Court, on May 30, had issued an order to arrest K. Patmanathan @ Mohd Ridzuan, the ex-husband of M. Indira Gandhi, but police have yet to act on it.

On April 3, 2009, Mohd Ridzuan had left the house with one-year-old Prasana and the birth certificates of the couple’s three children. He later used the birth certificates to convert the children to Islam.

On July 25 last year, the Ipoh High Court annulled the conversion certificates of five-year-old Prasana and her siblings Tevi Darsiny and Karan Dinish, aged 16 and 15 respectively.

The court declared it unconstitutional to force a minor to embrace a different faith without the consent of both parents.

In March 2010, the High Court granted Indira full custody of her three children but Mohd Ridzuan has refused to give custody of Prasana, arguing that the Syariah court had given him custody of the children.

Jagir said today that the police was a federal force and not a state or Islamic force.

He also urged the IGP to take advice from the Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail on the position of the Shariah and civil courts.

"The remedy lies with the A-G making a statement that as the law stands, the civil court order must be followed," said Jagir, who is also a lawyer.

According to him,  any interpretation of the Federal Constitution can only be done by the civil courts and not the Shariah court, as the latter was created by the state and not the constitution.

Jagir also said that the Selangor Islamic Religious Council (Mais) and the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) must comply and return the 321 Bibles seized from The Bible Society of Malaysia.

"The A-G has closed the file, so Jais and Mais must comply," he added.

Council of Churches of Malaysia (CCM) general-secretary Rev Dr Hermen Shastri also said that Jais and Mais were Muslim authorities and their jurisdiction cannot go beyond the Muslim community.

"We will reject any attempt by any Islamic authority to impose their laws on other minority religious communities  in the country," he said.

He added that if the country was failing to defend and protect the law, it was a reflection of the leaders.

"It also applies to the police, they should be the bastion to protect the rights of all citizens according to the direction of the court.

"But we are living in a country which is so confused that even a simple thing that affects the right of an individual is not being implemented and the ones affected are minority religious communities," Shastri added.

- TMI