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| Southeast Asia |
| Malaysian woman battles to be declared Hindu |
| 2009-11-26 |
| A MALAYSIAN woman who was converted to Islam as a child is battling to be recognised as a Hindu, in the latest conversion dispute to erupt in Malaysia. Ms S. Banggarma, 27, has said she was made to convert to Islam at the age of seven when she was placed at a children's home in Penang state. She was given a Muslim name and her identity card - a critical document in Malaysia - declared her to be a Muslim. But as a teenager she rediscovered her identity and later married a Hindu man in a religious ceremony. However, she cannot register the marriage due to their different religions - Malaysian Muslims are not permitted to marry someone of another faith, unless the spouse converts to Islam. She is also unable to name her husband as the father of their two children, aged eight and two, on their birth certificates. Ms Banggarma is now seeking permission to change her name and religious status on her identity card but conversion out of Islam is extremely difficult in Malaysia. Welfare Department director-general Meme Zainal Rashid has refuted allegations that department officials forced Ms Banggarma to convert to Islam, and said her father was responsible for the change of religion. However, Ms Banggarma dismissed the official version. 'My father was a practising Hindu until he died and he never mentioned anything about converting anyone in the family to become a Muslim,' she said. Malaysia's inter-faith council has thrown its support behind Ms Banggarma and rejected the government's stance that she must go to the religious Sharia courts for permission to revert to Hinduism. |
| Posted by:Fred |