SINGLE mother M. Indira Gandhi has gone to court in a bid to challenge and nullify laws of unconstitutional unilateral conversion in the federal territories and seven states.

The former kindergarten teacher and 13 other plaintiffs filed the originating summons at the Kuala Lumpur High Court on March 3. 

Indira Gandhi Action Team (Ingat) chairman Arun Dorasamy said that all the plaintiffs will be relying on the 2018 Federal Court ruling on Indira’s case, where her now fugitive ex-husband unilaterally converted all three children without her consent. 

Arun said their lawsuit is seeking a High Court order to nullify the unilateral law that is contained in the state enactment of the federal territories, Perlis, Kedah, Malacca, Negri Sembilan, Pahang, Perak and Johor. 

“Almost five years (after the Federal Court ruling on Indira’s case), there are states still practising unilateral conversion in line with their state enactment. 

“So through our challenge, we are seeking a legal declaration from KL High Court to declare those enactments from the federal territories and seven other states null and void,” Arun told a press conference today. 

Apart from seeking a declaration, Arun also wants the court to strike out all the unilateral conversions that had taken place since the landmark Federal Court decision on Indira’s case. 

“We thought once the Federal Court cleared the air over the unilateral conversion and defined article 12(4) of the Federal Constitution clearly, the AGC or the state apparatus should have taken the right action to rectify their enactments. But this did not happen,” Arun said. 

“Instead, the ruling was ignored, which is a contempt of court judgment, and they (the states) continued with an enactment that is totally unconstitutional. 

“The states and the Islamic Religious Department know but since it benefits them, they continue with it.

“It is about time for the judiciary to step in, rectify and declare all those enactments that are contrary to article 12(4) of the Federal Constitution to be declared null and void, and also to declare all the unilateral conversions that took place since January 29, 2018 to be declared void, including the case of single mother Loh Siew Hong,” he added. 

In Loh’s case, her three children were also converted to Islam by her ex-husband without her consent. 

She is now seeking a declaration that her ex-husband was legally unfit to convert their children to Islam.

Besides Indira, Arun is also a plaintiff in the suit filed on March 3.

They are joined by Malaysia Hindu Sangam, the representative body of Hindus in Malaysia, two alleged victims of unilateral conversions, and eight citizens from the seven states as well as the federal territories.

The two purported unilateral conversion victims are Aisyah Muhammad Ali, 26, and Mimi Mastura Abdullah, 33, while the states’ citizens are P. Sathesh Kumar, 45 (Perlis); S. Puveneshwaran, 46 (Kedah); A. Krishnan, 57 (Malacca); R. Sentul Kumaran, 43 (Negri Sembilan); S. Sathy Vel Naidu, 61 (Pahang); M. Selvaraj, 69 (Perak); S. Sivaprakash, 48 (Johor); and M Ranjeet Kumar, 44 (Kuala Lumpur). – March 20, 2023.