I read with great disappointment the report No non-halal food issue a discrimination, charges father .

Religion is a private practice, the freedom of which is enshrined in the constitution. But often a time, the state oversteps its role by pronouncing religious rulings for state institution.

Out of respect for individual rights, non-Muslims are entitled to have the food of their choice. Schools are built with state funds contributed equally by all taxpayers. Canteens, too, are built with money from taxpayers.

Operator who run school canteens cannot deny non-Muslims their right to share the canteens.

In New Zealand, out of respect for minority Muslim students, a school with a large number of such students, built a prayer room for them with the school's non-Muslim headmaster and the district education department defending the decision.

The magnanimity of the non-Muslim majority there showed true respect for different cultures and religions. But the reverse is true in Malaysia, where overzealous Muslim state bureaucrats increasingly encroaching onto non-Muslim rights in state institutions.

Who knows, the day may soon come when non-Muslims who consume non-halal food would be forced to use different toilets and sewerage systems.

I think schools with Muslim majority students should set aside a place or have a non-Muslim canteen operator to cater for the non-Muslims and vice-versa. We should teach young Malaysians to respect differences in cultures and religions, and this won't be achieved by highhandedly pronouncing banning decrees for this and that.