Siti Kasim blasts cops for hesitation to comply with civil court orders in unilateral conversion cases

HUMAN rights activist and lawyer Siti Kasim has hit out at the police for their reluctance to carry our civil court orders to protect the interests of non-Muslim mothers in cases of unilateral conversion of their children by their estranged spouses.

Pointing to the cases of Hindu mothers Loh Siew Hong and that of Indira Gandhi, she stressed the need for the Federal government to instruct both the state governments and the police to respect civil court ruling rather than to treat the matter as a hassle on grounds of “conflicting court order between the civil and syariah courts”.“I dislike using the word inferior hut the authority of the civil court is much greater than the Syariah court for the latter is the creation of civil court,” she justified in her latest YouTube rant in response to the Federal Court having struck down the Perlis state government’s final attempt to reinstate the Islamic faith of Loh’s three children.

“This is strictly about law and never to insinuate that Islamic law plays a second fiddle to civil law.”

Stating that unilateral conversion cases over the past 20 years has caused immense anguish to mothers and children in the likes of Loh (the latest case), Indira, Subashini Rajasingam, Shamala Sathiyaseelan and Deepa Subramaniam, Siti Kasim stressed the need for “the processes of law to be clearly spelt out’.

“If your marriage is sanctioned/solemnised by the civil court, then the divorce or anything to do with your marriage should be settled at the civil court instead of the syariah court (in the even one of the parties has embraced Islam),” insisted the Orang Asli advocate.

“Otherwise, this gives the impression that Islam is being used by the converted parties for their own gains, ie to obtain the custody of their children especially when the Muslim spouses know that the authorities will ultimately back them by extending moral support or even financial aid.

“Thankfully, the judiciary outcome thus far has been quite positive in that our judges are serious over the welfare of the affected children (and mothers) … this somehow increases the confidence level among the public towards our judiciary body while preserving the sovereignty of our law.”

Siti Kasim further cited Chief Justice Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat who opined that it is imperative for politicians not to have a say in the appointment of judges to ensure “there is no future obstruction in their decision making”.

“If there’s still no proper separation of power between the parliament (legislative), executive, and judicial, I dread the appointed individual (judge) will be someone with the same bandwidth, hence the verdict reached in Loh and Indira’s cases can eventually be rectified to one which reflects the interest of the religious faction.

“Henceforth, there is a dire need for the Federal government to enact a law to codify the situation so as to prevent abuses by state governments or religious groups to disrupt the lives of affected children and non-Muslim parents in unilateral conversion cases”. – Focus Malaysia