I would like to refer to the article Religious leaders irked by conversion case .

From these letters it seems that many non-Muslim Malaysians do not know about their limited rights with regards to their religious freedom in Malaysia. Many non-Muslims in our country cry foul when violation of religious rights arise, thinking that Malaysia is a country which truly espouses religious freedom.

This however, is not the case. Although the Federal Constitution through Article 11 protects religious freedom of every individual, various state enacted Syariah laws clearly violate this freedom.

Article 11 (1) guarantees individual religious freedom but the Syariah law prescribes detention for Muslims wishing to leave Islam. The Syariah law of Pahang even prescribes whipping for Muslims who leave Islam.

The Sabah Syariah law, which was enacted after Umno came to power in 1994, prescribes imprisonment for up to three years for a Muslim who leaves Islam. Most states have at least a compulsory two-year detention for Muslims who decide to leave their religion.

These laws are clearly against our Federal Constitution and the International Human Rights Declaration. It also means that non-Muslims who wish to marry Muslims have no choice but to convert to Islam, even if he/she does not practice Islam.

And since 1999, the religion of Muslims has been recorded on their personal files at the National Registration Department (JPN). Any attempt to change this record is denied even if the person has converted to another religion. Apparently, even some Christians and animists have their religions recorded as Islam on the JPN records as their names sound Muslim.

In cases of non-Muslims converting to Islam and taking their children along into Islam, the partners of these converts who remain outside of Islam will have no rights over their children's religious education.

This is because the Islamic Family Law enactments of all Malaysian states, including the Federal Territories, defines a Muslim as a person who has one Muslim parent or two. And with the amendment to Article 121 of the constitution during the Mahathir-era, the civil courts have no jurisdiction to overrule decisions made by the Syariah Court.

Therefore if the Syariah law of a state has clearly states that a person is a Muslim by virtue of one of his parents being a Muslim, a civil court cannot rule otherwise.

So, what are the rights of non-Muslims here in Malaysia? Attorney-General Abdul Ghani Patail once referred to Article 11 (3a) to defend the action of the Kelantan Islamic Affairs Council (MAIK) in detaining four former Muslims.

Article 11 (3a) states that every religion has the right to manage its affairs. Why then are church marriages between baptised Christians not recognized by the JPN if one of the partners was formerly a Muslim? Doesn't a church have a right to marry off one of its own members?

Although all non-Muslim religious establishments do not proselytise among Muslims, the government must consider Muslims who wish to leave Islam on their own accord.

These are all clearly double standards. It is all part of a plan to Islamicise Malaysia using the law. Any plan to turn Malaysia into the next Egypt must be averted. Egypt was formerly a Coptic Christian country.

After being dominated by the Arab Muslims, the enactment of various discriminatory laws led to a decline of the Christian population. Many converted out of necessity (e.g. marriage to Muslims, persecution for blasphemy, evading discriminatory taxes). The rest simply fled the country.

If the Malaysian population is to be totally Islamicised, it should be done with honour. The Tatar people, for example, converted to Islam because they believe it suited their lifestyle. They were not dominated by other Muslim nations. Many other Central Asian nations also became Muslims because they liked Islam. Islam then was not spread by creating discriminatory laws.

Some of our non-Muslim political leaders are quite happy and satisfied to think that religious freedom only means the freedom to celebrate religious festivals e.g. Thaipusam, Christmas, Wesak, Hari Raya Puasa, the Lunar New Year.

With non-Muslim leaders like this, it is no surprise then that discriminatory laws against non-Muslims can be easily passed in parliament.

The victim as usual would be the ordinary citizens like us. People who go about their daily lives without a care in the world, only to wake up one day and find out that either we or our children are suddenly Muslim, like it or not.