Upon the request of a 'high ranking' government official, an interfaith candlelight vigil held since last month's controversial High Court ruling in the M Moorthy case has been suspended indefinitely.

The vigil, initiated by the Malaysian Consultative Council for Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism and Sikhism (MCCBCHS), was held in front of a courthouse in Kuala Lumpur.

It's aim was to create public awareness that non-Muslims lacked adequate legal recourse on decisions made by the Syariah Court.

Contacted today, MCCBCHS assistant secretary-general Rev Wong Kim Kong confirmed that the vigil had been put on hold but declined to identify the government official who made the request.

However, it is learnt that the official was Chief Secretary to the Government Samsuddin Osman.

According to Wong, Kuala Lumpur police chief Mustaffa Abdullah and the special branch had also made similar requests.

Aim achieved

Despite ending prematurely, he said the vigil, which was slated to continue to the end of this month, had managed to achieve its aim to a certain extent.

"The public noticed our intentions and the government has begun to respond to our appeals," he added.

Wong, who is leading a committee set up by MCCBCHS in response to the Moorthy issue, said the vigil was peaceful throughout with up to 500 people attending on a daily basis.

"On Jan 11 (last Wednesday), we counted 582 individuals at the vigil. We didn't work hard to mobilise these people. They came because they wanted to show concern," he added.

In view of this, he hoped that the government would be able to resolve the controversy in an amicable manner as soon as possible.

"We hope we don't ever have to gather for vigils over such issues again," he said.

Controversial case

The death of Moorthy, a 36-year-old former army commando and member of the Mount Everest expedition team on Dec 20, had opened a pandora's box concerning religious conversion.

A legal tussle erupted between his widow and the Islamic religious authorities over his funeral rites, with the former claiming he was a practicing Hindu and the latter stating that he had become a Muslim.

Following this, the Syariah Court ruled that he was a Muslim and his widow's attempt to seek redress at the high court hit a brick wall when a judge ruled that the court had no jurisdiction over such matters.

Moorthy was finally buried according to Islamic rites, amid widespread concern for the rights of non-Muslims and calls to amend the constitution.