Hindu Widow Loses Battle Against Malaysia's Shariat Court

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http://telegraphindia.com/1051229/asp/nation/story_5657602.asp


Telegraph
Thursday December 29, 2005


Hindu widow loses last rites tug of war


Kuala Lumpur, Dec. 28 (Reuters): Malaysia's Islamic authorities acted
against the wishes of a Hindu widow and gave her husband a Muslim
burial today, ending a religious tug of war that has inflamed opinion
among the country's non-Muslim minority.


"The decision today is a setback for race relations in this
country," ethnic Indian lawmaker M. Kulasegaran told reporters after
the widow failed in her legal bid to get custody of her husband's
body and give him a Hindu cremation.


Malaysia has secular rule and just under half its people are
non-Muslims, subscribing to Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity and other
faiths. However, the state religion is Islam and there are concerns
about the growing influence of Islamic officials.


Hours after the high court's ruling, officials from Malaysia's
Islamic affairs department took the body of celebrated mountain-climber
and former army commando M. Moorthy from the Kuala Lumpur hospital
where he had died last week and buried him.


The department says Moorthy, 36, had recently converted to Islam and it
asserted its right to give him a Muslim burial, despite opposition from
his widow, Kaliammal Sinnasamy, who denies he ever converted and was at
his bedside when he died.


Kaliammal did not attend the burial. Her lawyer said she would go ahead
with a Hindu ceremony without the body. "The family strongly believes
that even though his body can be taken away, his soul cannot," lawyer
M. Manoharan said.


Earlier, officials washed Moorthy's body, state news agency Bernama
said, put it in a cask draped in cloth of Quranic verses, slid it into
the back of a white department hearse and took it to a Muslim cemetery
on the outskirts of the capital.


Moorthy's elder brother, Muhd Hussein, 48, a convert to Islam,
attended the burial, Bernama said.


The emotional legal tussle between the custodians of Malaysia's state
religion and Moorthy's widow began soon after his death when she
tried, and failed, to persuade hospital authorities to release his body
to her.


Malaysia's shariat court then intervened and ruled Moorthy was a
Muslim and could not be cremated as a Hindu.


Today, the high court decided it had no jurisdiction in the case,
saying the question of Moorthy's religion was up to the shariat
court."In our opinion, the judge had a golden opportunity to
ventilate the issue of non-Muslim rights but he declined," opposition
lawmaker Kulasegaran said after the ruling.


Malaysia's constitution forbids discrimination on the basis of
religion but a Muslim can't renounce Islam without the nod of the
shariat court, which is seldom given.

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http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/holnus/003200601201564.htm


Non-Muslim Malaysian Ministers demand Constitutional review


Kuala Lumpur, Jan. 20 : In the wake of the controversy surrounding the
Islamic burial of an Indian-origin mountaineer against his widow's
wishes, non-Muslim Ministers in Malaysia have submitted a memorandum
calling for a review of laws affecting the rights of minority
communities.


This unprecedented demand seeks from the government a review of an
article in the country's Constitution which stipulates that civil
courts have no jurisdiction over matters relating to Islam, which fall
under the Shariah Court, the 'New Straits Times' reported today.


The memorandum comes amidst growing concern of non-Muslim communities
in this Muslim majority country after the soldier-mountaineer M
Moorthy, born a Hindu, was buried in December last year under Islamic
rites against the wishes of his widow after a Sharia court held that he

had converted to Islam.


When Moorthy's widow approached the country's civil courts, the judge
said the court could not overrule a decision taken by the Islamic
court.


Moorthy had apparently converted to Islam a year before his death and
had not informed his wife. The memorandum called on the government to
amend laws that allows only one parent to convert children below 18
years.


The nine Hindu, Buddhist and Christian Ministers also urged the
government to rectify conflicts between Shariah and civil laws, the
paper said.


The call for the review of the article in the Constitution was
precipitated by instances of judges allowing the Shariah Court to
handle several high profile cases involving disputes between Muslims
and non-Muslims.

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http://telegraphindia.com/1051229/asp/nation/story_5657602.asp
Telegraph
Thursday December 29, 2005
Hindu widow loses last rites tug of war
Kuala Lumpur, Dec. 28 (Reuters): Malaysia's Islamic authorities acted
against the wishes of a Hindu widow and gave her husband a Muslim
burial today, ending a religious tug of war that has inflamed opinion
among the country's non-Muslim minority.
"The decision today is a setback for race relations in this
country," ethnic Indian lawmaker M. Kulasegaran told reporters after
the widow failed in her legal bid to get custody of her husband's
body and give him a Hindu cremation.
Malaysia has secular rule and just under half its people are
non-Muslims, subscribing to Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity and other
faiths. However, the state religion is Islam and there are concerns
about the growing influence of Islamic officials.
Hours after the high court's ruling, officials from Malaysia's
Islamic affairs department took the body of celebrated mountain-climber
and former army commando M. Moorthy from the Kuala Lumpur hospital
where he had died last week and buried him.
The department says Moorthy, 36, had recently converted to Islam and it
asserted its right to give him a Muslim burial, despite opposition from
his widow, Kaliammal Sinnasamy, who denies he ever converted and was at
his bedside when he died.
Kaliammal did not attend the burial. Her lawyer said she would go ahead
with a Hindu ceremony without the body. "The family strongly believes
that even though his body can be taken away, his soul cannot," lawyer
M. Manoharan said.
Earlier, officials washed Moorthy's body, state news agency Bernama
said, put it in a cask draped in cloth of Quranic verses, slid it into
the back of a white department hearse and took it to a Muslim cemetery
on the outskirts of the capital.
Moorthy's elder brother, Muhd Hussein, 48, a convert to Islam,
attended the burial, Bernama said.
The emotional legal tussle between the custodians of Malaysia's state
religion and Moorthy's widow began soon after his death when she
tried, and failed, to persuade hospital authorities to release his body
to her.
Malaysia's shariat court then intervened and ruled Moorthy was a
Muslim and could not be cremated as a Hindu.
Today, the high court decided it had no jurisdiction in the case,
saying the question of Moorthy's religion was up to the shariat
court."In our opinion, the judge had a golden opportunity to
ventilate the issue of non-Muslim rights but he declined," opposition
lawmaker Kulasegaran said after the ruling.
Malaysia's constitution forbids discrimination on the basis of
religion but a Muslim can't renounce Islam without the nod of the
shariat court, which is seldom given.