Hindu hubbies on warpath with Islamic authorities
Apr 20, 07 3:46pm
Two Hindu men said they were battling Islamic authorities after being forcibly separated from their Muslim wives in cases highlighting growing religious tensions in the country.
Suresh Veerapan issued a plea for help after his wife Revathi Masoosai and their baby were forcibly removed from their home and she was put in Islamic rehabilitation camp.
He said Revathi, an ethnic Indian and practising Hindu born to Muslim parents, was sent to the camp for 100 days in January by Islamic authorities in western Malacca state.
Her detention was extended Wednesday by a syariah court by 80 days, Suresh said, adding Islamic authorities in March had also taken the 16-month old baby from him and given the child to his Muslim in-laws.
"We are treated like animals, not humans, the way they have separated me from my wife and baby," said a weeping Suresh, adding that Islamic officials were now keeping him from visiting Revathi.
"When I asked them why the extension, they told me she did not cooperate with the authorities there," Suresh told AFP.
Revathi's detention is the latest in a string of religious conflicts involving Muslims and non-Muslims which have sparked outrage in multi-ethnic Malaysia.
Fighting to get children back
In a separate case, another Hindu man vowed to fight Islamic authorities for custody of five of his children who were forcibly separated from him, along with his Muslim wife.
P Marimuthu said his wife Raimah Bibi Noordin and their five young Hindu children were taken from their home two weeks ago by religious officials, who said she was a Muslim. Raimah and the children are being held in a ethnic Malay Muslim village in western Selangor slate.
"I just want to at least get my children back, I do not want them to be Muslims as they were brought up as Hindus," Marimuthu told AFP, adding he had one son living with him who escaped the raid.
Marimuthu said that Raimah, an ethnic Indian, was adopted by an Indian Muslim family and was a practising Hindu.
Rights groups have condemned the actions of the Islamic authorities in Raimah's case, saying they breached the country's constitution, which guarantees freedom of religious practice.- AFP
http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/66226
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爆发连串家庭因宗教分裂悲剧
吉祥：东姑若还健在将感痛心
国会反对党领袖兼民主行动党怡保东区国会议员林吉祥指出，如果国父兼我国首任首相东姑阿都拉曼今天仍健在，相信他会是首个对连串家庭因宗教分裂的悲剧感到很痛心的人，如玛里慕都事件，已结婚21年及育有7名子女的家庭 ，因宗教因素而破裂，这除了引起宗教间的紧张关系而打击国民团结外，也给大马在国际上留下一个污名。
林吉祥（左图）指出，自建国以来，东姑阿都拉曼就立下一个对宗教权益及敏感性采取开明丶容忍及包容态度的典范，成为我国建国50年内，国家免於宗教冲突丶不和或误解的黄金时期。
讨论苏芭丝妮丶丽华蒂及玛里慕都事件
“我今天传真了一封紧急函件给首相阿都拉，要求他与行动党的国会议员及领袖会面商讨最近许多类似苏芭丝妮丶丽华蒂及玛里慕都争议性事件有关的国民团结丶宗教丶家庭完整及人权敏感课题。”
5大宗教理事会最近举行长达一周的祈祷会，寻求神的协助，以传播维护有关宗教自由的大马宪法第11条款及联邦宪法为大马最高法律之第4条款重要性的醒觉，使人日益担忧我国多元社会中的宗教间容忍与和谐问题。
http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/66229
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