Child's religion should be decided by both surviving parents - Gerakan Youth

The Gerakan Youth is urging the Cabinet to honour the decision made in 2009 and to take lead in Parliament to enact laws on preventing unilateral conversion of a child’s religion.

“In 2009, the Cabinet had decided against unilateral conversion of minors, that is, both parents must agree before a minor is converted.

"However, it’s only a decision by the Cabinet and not enacted in our laws,” said Gerakan Youth Chief Tan Keng Liang in a statement.

He added that the Gerakan Youth believes that a child’s religion should only be converted with the consent of both surviving parents.

“This is notwithstanding that Article 12 (4) of the Federal Constitution states that the religion of a person under the age of 18 years shall be decided by his parent (“ibu bapa”) or guardian,” he explained.

Tan was referring to the statement made today by Minister in the Prime Minister's Department YB Jamil Khir Baharom who said in Parliament that consent from either one parent is enough for the conversion of a child’s religion according to Article 12 (4) of the Federal Constitution.

He referred to the 2004 case involving Shamala Sathiyaseelan and Dr Jeyaganesh C. Mogarajah, where he said the Federal Court had ruled that a child's religion can be decided by either parent.

Meanwhile, Ravi Neko, who was in the legal team to represent Shamala in the Federal Court, was quoted in The Malaysia Insider saying that they argued before the apex court that a leave application must be heard due to special circumstances of the case.

"We wanted the court to give leave to appeal and determine whether a single spouse can convert their children without the knowledge and permission of the other spouse.

"I do not agree with the Federal Court ruling as it had lost a rare opportunity to determine key constitutional issues like the rights of parents to determine the religion of their underaged children," he was quoted as saying in The Malaysian Insider.