YOURSAY | ‘A compromise judgment is not necessarily a just decision.’

Father granted custody of son, Deepa gets daughter

Vent: This is a cop-out judgment. It was based on the premise that the children are Muslims, and in Bolehland that is a sacred cow (no pun intended).

However, the children were unilaterally converted by the father. They were, and still are, far too young to understand the implications of his cowardly action.

Alas - as the court chose not to “disturb” that matter - it was a mere hop, skip and jump for Court of Appeal president Justice Md Raus Sharif to rule that “the civil court and Syariah Court should not transgress each other”.

What a no-brainer! I’m almost certain that in a British court of law, the mother would have been awarded custody of both children on grounds that the father had abrogated his rights and responsibilities in not obtaining the consent of the mother to convert them.

Moreover, the children would be allowed to choose their faith upon reaching adulthood/maturity as the court deems fit.

His ‘lordship’ Justice Raus appeared to have chosen to overlook the humanitarian facts of the case and thus, Islam won again. Such cases are now on auto-pilot.

Negarawan: "Both the children had embraced Islam and the civil High Court did not disturb the conversion."

This is yet another religiously-biased judgment made by a panel of solely Muslim judges. The religious composition of the panel by itself is already unjust to the non-Muslim parent and children.

Splitting the custody will have a detrimental effect on both children. What if there is only one child involved in the custody battle? Will the same judges decide to use a sword and give each parent one-half of the child?

Islam is a religion of compulsion in Malaysia as there is no freedom to leave the religion, even in illegal and questionable conversions. Religion should be a matter strictly between an individual and his/her religious conviction.

Sharmila @ Nur Nabila will probably be brought up as a Hindu by her mother, but she will face religious harassment from the Islamic authorities should she marry a non-Muslim later on in life. Indeed, the judicial system in Malaysia is beyond redemption.

The Observer: Is this what they call Malaysian justice? The rights of the children to determine their own religion when they reach adulthood are taken away from them at such a young age, even when the children themselves had been forcibly converted?

A compromise judgment is not necessarily a just decision. The whole problem arises due to the creation of a dual judicial system that has led a monster trying to subvert the primacy of the other system.

Anakraja: The children were born as Hindus, so why were the children carrying Muslim names? These two children are innocent, but it’s the father who is acting worse than a terrorist.

We’ll have to wait and see what other drama he will do in the near future. I feel very sorry for the kids having a father like this.

Tembikai: The father is a lorry driver and an NGO worker, how can he afford to send his children to "an international school in Johor Baru"? Doesn't it sound fishy to you why he converted?

Bystander: The fact that a lorry driver could afford to send his daughter to an international school really baffles me. Is the corridor of power in play?

If not, I should seek employment as a lorry driver because as it is, I couldn't even afford to send my daughter to an international school.

Malaysia seems to be doing so well economically that a lorry driver’s income can pay for an international school education for his children. I am proud of this.

Vijay47: Is the battle really over? My sympathies to you, Madam S Deepa, that your son had to be the sacrificial lamb in this painful contest which - we must never forget - was created by that defender of Proton, former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, in whom Izwan Abdullah (N Viran) will now no doubt find kinship.

What effect does the decision have? Since "divorce and custody in civil marriages should be decided by the civil court", it would follow that any deviation from this core principle would be illegal.

How then could the children - having been illegally converted to Islam and did not embrace it - be Muslim?

We hope that with this ruling, excesses by Islamic bodies - which seem to have the final word on any mention of religion in identity cards (ICs) - will come to end.

With the backdoors now closed, we will also see less of romantic heroes like Viran who convert to marry again.

This, of course, will be painful to Muslim organisations which have had previously welcomed new members with glee.

Roy69: I don’t know why some readers are celebrating this decision. The children who were converted without the non-Muslim parent's consent still remain as Muslims.

Furthermore, the children are separated not only from each other, but from their mother as well. What justice from the apex court...

Hang Babeuf: A “Solomonic” judgment? ... I think not. At least the court decided and affirmed that:

1) Divorce and custody in civil marriages should be decided by the civil courts; and

2) Marriage annulment and ancillary orders following the conversion of a party to Islam cannot be made by the Syariah Court.

But "Father granted custody of son" - so, gross defiance of the law has proved successful and, with the top court's blessing, has been rewarded and remains unpunished.

Not the most glorious moment in Malaysian legal history and jurisprudence, not the nation's finest example of judicial courage.

Daniel: Basically, the judgment can be interpreted as - if a thief breaks into my house and steals my possessions, and if he keeps the loot long enough in his house, he gets to keep half of it regardless of whether it was mine, to begin with.

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