Zahid: Need to relook proposed amendments to Marriage and Divorce Act

PUTRAJAYA: The Government is committed to looking after the interests of non-Muslims, and the deferment of the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act 1976 was to review it so that it would not become mere polemic.

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi assured that the Government was not backtracking on its commitment to amend the Act. Instead, he said, it wanted the proposal reviewed so that it would not be detrimental to the country.

“We are committed to taking other religions into consideration but the Government feels that, based on the concerns raised by certain groups and individuals, the matter needs to be reviewed.

“We want to ensure that the amendments are not against Islamic fatwa or the Federal Constitution,” he said after attending the Home Ministry’s monthly gathering.

The amendments to the Act will ensure that children cannot be unilaterally converted by any one parent.

Dr Ahmad Zahid said the Attorney-General was asked to study the feedback and to relook the proposed amendments together with religious and legal experts.

There have been calls for the Government to postpone the tabling of the proposed amendments, including from Perak Mufti Tan Sri Harussani Zakaria who claimed that the amendments were against the Constitution.

Harussani also said the amendments were against a 2009 fatwa that stated that if either a mother or father converted to Islam, their underage children would automatically become Muslims.

In August last year, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak announced legal reforms to the Act as the Cabinet assured the public of ways to resolve inter-faith child custody conflicts between Muslim and non-Muslim parents.

The Joint Action Group for Gender Equality (JAG) said that with the Bill being pushed back, it was unclear when the Government would fulfil its pledge to push it through.

Women’s Aid Organisation assistant treasurer Meera Samanther told a press conference at the Parliament that JAG had been lobbying for the changes for the past 13 years.

Present at the conference was M. Indira Gandhi, who has faced a lengthy legal battle to gain custody and reverse the unilateral conversion of her children by her ex-spouse who converted to Islam.

An emotional Indira Gandhi said she had been waiting for eight years to get justice.

“I was so happy when assurances were given that the Bill would be tabled this time but now, the fate of my children remains uncertain.

“When can we get justice and move on with our lives? Eight years is too long,” she said.

Sisters In Islam’s executive director Rozana Isa said it was disappointing that the rights of women, who made up half the population, were still being put aside.

“This is preposterous,” she added.