THE Federal Court’s ruling declaring the conversion of M. Indira Gandhi’s three children to Islam as null and void has been hailed as the best legal decision in a multi-faith society, Sarawak leaders and religious groups said today. 

“The nullification of Indira Gandhi’s children’s unilateral conversion to Islam by their Muslim father was the best that could ever happen in a multiracial and multi-religious Malaysia,” said Deputy Chief Minister James Masing. 

“A child is administered and loved by a mother and a father, therefore, it’s only right that both parents must have equal say in their kids’ religious affiliation. To assume otherwise is gender-biased and unhealthy,” said Masing, who leads BN component party Parti Rakyat Sarawak. 

Yesterday’s decision by the apex court ended Indira’s nine-year legal battle to challenge the unilateral conversion of her children from Hindu to Islam by her former husband.

The court also delivered a landmark judgment requiring the consent of both parents for the conversion of a child to Islam and that the constitutional word “parent” was a case of being lost in translation. 

Sarawak PKR leader Baru Bian called the decision a “long-awaited judicious and rational judgment backed by sound reasoning”.

“It is a breath of fresh air after a long and arduous struggle for Indira Gandhi,” he said.

He hoped the judgment will put an end to cases of unilateral conversions of minors. 

“It is also a badly needed definitive statement on the limits of the powers and the jurisdiction of the shariah courts,” said the Ba’kelalan assemblyman. 

The full written judgment from five-man bench, comprising Court of Appeal president Zulkefli Ahmad Makinudin, Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Richard Malanjum, Zainun Ali, Abu Samah Nordin and Ramly Ali, was 99 pages long.

The ruling overturned an appellate court’s 2-1 majority decision on December 30, 2015, to reinstate the conversion certificates of Indira’s three children, which had been nullified by the Ipoh High Court.

Baru said the ruling gave minority communities “new hope” that they still have recourse to the civil courts “even when their government fails them”.

He added, however, that it remains to be seen whether Inspector-General of Police Fuzi Harun will now be “as equally courageous as the Federal Court judges to finally arrest the ex-husband of Indira Gandhi”. 

“Indira Gandhi deserves more than a victory on paper,” Baru said. 

Chairman of the Association of Churches in Sarawak (ACS) Justin Wan welcomed the decision as “the right and truthful thing to do”.

“We just hope and pray that the authorities concerned will honour this ruling,” he said in reference to the process of reconverting Indira’s three children, as well as locating her former husband and youngest child.

Sarawak DAP women’s affairs director Irene Chang said the court ruling should be further proof of the need to amend the country’s marriage and divorce laws to include provisions for mandatory consent by both parents for all minor conversions, and not only in custody cases. 

“This would put a stop once and for all the sorry state of affairs which had caused break-up of families, untold hardships and social injustice to so many people,” said Chang, who is Bukit Assek assemblyman.

“In custody fights, the only consideration in awarding custody should be the welfare of the child. And underhanded methods through religion should be a big no.”

Indira’s children, two daughters and a son now aged 20, 19 and 9, were converted to Islam by their father, Muhammad Riduan Abdullah, 47, formerly known as K. Pathmanathan, in April 2009 without their mother’s consent. – January 30, 2018.