Manjit Bhatia's comments on Perlis' proposed relaxing of conditions for polygyny in Islamic family law shows his insensitivity towards Muslims.

Yes, it is true that there are Muslims who abuse the Quran by citing bits and pieces of the holy book to their advantage, ie to marry four. Another glaring example is Osama bin Laden who justified the killings of 'kufrs'. There is clearly something wrong with his morbid edict, as Islam in the Quran reserves the freedom to practise other religion.

But this does not mean that the same bits and pieces of the Quran can simply be altered at will. Muslims believe that the Quran contains eternal, flawless truths. Changing the content of the holy book, for whatever reason, amounts to blasphemy.

Flawless truths? Yes, such belief makes Islam or any other religion 'a faith'.

Take an example of alcohol consumption. It has been proven in numerous studies that a little alcohol a day can help keep the doctors at bay. As the Quran prohibits the consumption of alcohol, it will remain that way for Muslims. Call them backward-looking and ridiculous (read: offend) them all you want but this is the tangible side of belief.

Manjit's contention that condoning polygyny is absurd or in his exact words, "unacceptable throwback to Stone Age thinking" is thus a cheap jab at Muslims. Why will Muslims take offence? It is the teaching of Islam which allows Muslim men to marry four, and to revoke this 'licence' amounts to saying that the teaching is at fault.

Moreover, there exists Muslims, men and women alike, who genuinely condone polygyny. To assume that such people do not exist is naive.

Thus, the best Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad (assuming the dual role of a Muslim and the leader of a multiracial society) can do in this scenario, is to streamline the laws which govern polygyny. Islam requires the men to have the capacity to be fair to all parties before jumping into the polygyny bandwagon. Marrying a second wife in secret is grossly unfair to the first wife. Being fair in this sense is by far the most common missing link. In Perlis, this crucial link is not even in existence. One surely hopes that an intelligent leader like Mahathir will remedy this legal flaw. After all, to do otherwise will only cost him women votes.

Indeed polygyny causes great distress to many people. Not only to the parties involved but also to 'outsiders' like Manjit, who simply cannot fathom that there are people, including women, who genuinely believe in the benefits of polygyny as taught by Islam. But, it does not do the nation any good to grab this problem by its balls (excuse the pun). Taking the toughest line by ridiculing the concept of polygyny altogether is hardly the best solution for Malaysia.