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Malaysian Hindus call on govt to uphold freedom of religion
Calling for it is another way of saying you don't have it now ...
KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysian Hindus on Sunday called on the government to guarantee the right to freedom of religion, which they say is being trampled on by conservative Islam in the mainly Muslim country.

A. Vaithilingam, the president of Malaysia Hindu Sangam, which represents over 1,000 Hindu temples and associated communities, said the group issued the demand at their annual general meeting on Sunday. “We unanimously endorsed that the federal government should take this matter seriously and see that part of the constitution is implemented,” Vaithilingam told AFP.

The country’s constitution affirms freedom of religion for Malaysians, but Hindu Sangam and other religious minority groups say growing Muslim conservatism is eroding their rights. “Very often the authorities are ignoring the fact that there is something known as freedom of worship,” said Vaithilingam.

Religious tensions have been on the boil since December, when an ethnic Indian moutaineering hero M. Moorthy was buried as a Muslim over the protests of his Hindu wife, who said he never converted. Moorthy was ruled a Muslim in an Islamic or sharia court, in which his wife had no say as a non-Muslim.
She's lucky they didn't just kill her.
Hindu Sangam’s call comes amidst a crucial hearing in Malaysia’s highest court to decide whether Islamic courts have the exclusive right to rule on whether Muslims can legally convert. The Federal Court decided it would rule on the matter following the case of a Muslim woman who appealed to have her former religion struck off her identity card after converting to Christianity.

Lina Joy, an ethnic Malay, was originally known as Azlina Jailani but changed her name when she converted in 1997. The National Registration Department granted a card with her new name in 1999 but refused to remove her religion, stated as Islam, saying it needed permission from a sharia court.

Vaithilingam said freedom of religion was “the crux of the matter” and that judges in Malaysia’s lower courts had so far ruled against Lina Joy. “The person has clearly stated she is a Christian, but the judges are ignoring that part of the constitution,” he said. “We are still very hopeful that the federal court judges will be in favour of Lina Joy’s claim,” he added.
Hope all you want ...
Malaysia’s 26 million people are roughly 60 percent Muslim Malay, with mostly Hindu Indians making up eight percent of the population and ethnic Chinese most of the remainder.
Posted by: Steve White 2006-07-03
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=158043