Parents: Teacher told teen son converting will boost football career

EDITOR’S NOTE: This story has been amended to reflect that a statement wrongly attributed to the teacher on stadiums being inaccessible to non-Muslims was actually made by a classmate of the student concerned.

A teacher has been accused of encouraging a Form Three student at a school in Kuala Lumpur to embrace Islam, claiming it would boost his chances of becoming a national footballer.

His parents have filed a police report on the matter.

Cheras district police chief Zam Halim Jamaluddin told Malaysiakini that an investigation is being carried out.

The boy’s mother, who identified herself as “Vasan”, claimed that her 15-year-old son was also told by a classmate on a Whatsapp group that “only Muslims are allowed to enter stadiums in Malaysia”.

She had learned about the incident on Feb 3 when her son showed her the messages in the Whatsapp group created for the class by the teacher.

“When I looked through the messages, I noticed that the teacher told my son that if he wanted to join the national team, he had to be a Muslim.

“He then encouraged my son to convert and even asked the class to suggest Islamic names for him,” she told a press conference in Petaling Jaya today.

Vasan then showed the media copies of the messages.

According to Vasan, she and her husband, who was also present, tried to call the teacher to talk about the messages but he had blocked their numbers.

Against the law

She claimed her son revealed that the teacher had been preaching to him about Islam for the past six months.

Vasan said her son was worried that he would be removed from the school team or be given lower grades if a police report is lodged.

Accompanying the parents was Hindu Agamam Ani Malaysia Association chairperson Arun Dorasamy.

“I don’t know what the teacher’s intention was but whatever it was, whatever he has said or done to the student was against Article 11 of the Federal Constitution (which guarantees freedom of religion).

“In this case, the boy is a minor so attempting to convert him without the consent of his parents is unconstitutional and illegal,” he said.

Arun also echoed the parents’ request for the Education Ministry to investigate the teacher.

Malaysiakini has contacted the school for a response to this allegation, as well as Vasan and Arun’s additional claim that students are segregated according to religion.

Malaysiakini has pixelated the parents’ images to protect the identity of the boy, who is a minor.

Court allows Mais, S'gor govt bid to reinstate woman’s Islamic conversion

AG's 'BM constitution authoritative' push raises alarm, Indira Gandhi case cited

COA throws out police, govt bid to strike out Indira Gandhi's suit

Loh gets leave for legal challenge on Islamic conversions of her children

Court dismisses Muslim-born woman’s bid to leave Islam