It was very refreshing to see Zaid Ibrahim’s writing in The Star and Jagir Singh’s defence of M Indira Gandhi as they are of different faiths than that of Indira.

But unfortunately Zaid’s article only told half the story.

Indira comes from the Hindu faith. Did she approach the Hindu priests in the temple? We think she did not, because if she had done so the Hindu priests would have settled the matter in an amiable and amicable manner.

The priests would have respected her husband’s desire to choose a different path for his salvation as the Hindu religion practices freedom of worship. Besides, the priests would have explained that it would be a grave sin to oppose her ex-husband’s choice of faith.

As for the children, they would have given two of the children to her and one child to her ex-husband. We have observed the priests in the temples calming down warring couples with a bit of education on sex as to why a child belongs to both of them. The priests in the temples are quite knowledgable and many couples who sought the advise of the priests are happy.

But Indira went to her lawyer M Kulasegaran who is also a person of the Hindu faith. At the least he could have sought the counsel of the priests before taking the matter to the courts. We are sure that if Indira had consulted her priests, life would be much better today.

Nevertheless, Zaid Ibrahim and Jagir Singh can still take Indira for a visit to the Hindu temple and seek the advise of the priests. Persons of different faith can enter the Hindu temple. So our suggestion to Zaid Ibrahim and Jagir Singh is to give it a try and you may be able to end Indira’s misery.

Best wishes to Zaid, Jagir and Indira.