I refer to Aman Rais's column [#1] Mahathir meracau lagi... [/#] (March 23). It would be useful in such an article to locate the premise of the writer's opinion that fear of conversions to Islam is nonsensical.

I have over several years met individual parents and parents from parent-teacher associations who are not Muslims who have expressed real concerns on their children being converted to Islam.

It is not as if there has been no real case of children being kept away from their non-Muslim parents. There is one reported case in Kelantan which went right up to the Supreme Court involving a Buddhist child who was kept away from her Buddhist parents. She turned Muslim at 17. Her father could not locate her whereabouts.

There is so much emphasis on the Muslim religion in school. Young Muslim children are pressured into observing the 'correct Muslim dress', for example. This is a cause of concern even for Muslims. Parents would rather have civic education being taught than rituals and religious dogma in schools.

There is much to say about the privatisation of religion in that religion should not be part of the public realm. There could instead be emphasis on the ethical values of religion and spirituality in civic education. This is a common denominator of most religious and political beliefs.