Apostasy is not only confined to Islam but is also present in Christianity during the early periods before the coming of democracy and the rise of secularism in Europe. I am not sure whether there is such thing as apostasy in other religions. Apostasy is a controversial subject so it is best left to the adherent of that particular faith and God.

The radicals apart, we have Malay nationalists who think that apostasy will bring about the erosion of Malay political power and indirectly affect the position of the Malay Rulers. These nationalists are not concerned about the survival of other bumiputeras like the Kadazans or the Dayaks, and would prefer to assimilate them into the Malay community as Muslims.

During the 60s and 70s, the nationalists concentrated on making Bahasa Melayu the sole language of this country. Today, their fight takes on a different dimension in the form of religion. The 100,00 figure for apostates as claimed by a Muslim religious scholar, I think, is exaggerated. I do not see them around compared to Muslim converts who are quite numerous.

It is a wrong assumption to say that a few thousand apostates will lead to a Malay identity crisis or even a shifting of Malay political power. Why this unfounded fear when Malays control the federal government as well as all the state governments (except for Penang) in this country? Is it to the credit of the government to not allow religious conversion irrespective of race or religion and then tell the whole world Malaysians enjoy 100 percent religious freedom?

The present political scenario is a minus point for true racial unity as multi-racial parties can only win a few seats in an election. Racial-based parties will play (in this case Umno or PAS) the religious line to get the most members as the majority of the voters are Muslims. This gives them the dominant role.

What is even more unfortunate is that a non-politician like the former chairman of the Bar Council is made chairman of a newly-founded group known as Pembela Islam as reported by the local press. If an important person like him who is supposed to fight for justice irrespective of race or religion can fall into the racial trap, than I don't know where we are heading to as a nation.

I can only hope and pray a day will come when Malaysians can marry into any race or religion without religious obstacles as proposed by MA in his letter Unity through marriage option wasted.