KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters):
LEADERS OF Malaysia's non-Muslim religions condemned yesterday the state's decision to give a man a Muslim burial against his Hindu widow's wishes, and called for a review of their constitutional rights.
"We are concerned that the fundamental rights of other religions in this country are being slowly eroded," said Venki Sankar, an ethnic Indian business leader and Hindu.
"It makes us feel very angry."
Just over half of Malaysia's population of 26 million are Muslim, and Islam is the state religion, but government is secular and the constitution guarantees religious minorities, such as Hindus, Buddhists and Christians, equality under the law.
The case of former army commander and mountain climber M. Moorthy, who was given a Muslim burial on Wednesday by officials of Malaysia's Islamic-affairs department, has shaken the trust of some non-Muslims in their constitutional rights.
FAILED CHALLENGE
The department claimed Moorthy's body after the 36-year-old died last week in a hospital in the capital, arguing that he had recently converted to Islam. His widow tried and failed to challenge the assertion in the High Court.
Within hours of Wednesday's court ruling, Islamic officials, escorted by police, carried Moorthy's body from the hospital in a cask, covered in Koranic verses and took it in a white department hearse to a Muslim cemetery on the capital's outskirts.
Moorthy's widow, Kaliammal Sinnasamy, who had been at his bedside when he died, did not attend the burial, which went ahead despite her legal team's intention to appeal against the ruling.
Moorthy's elder brother, Muhd Hussein, a convert to Islam, and Muhd's son were the only family members at the burial.
"My husband is a Hindu and at no time did I know he was a Muslim," Sinnasamy, looking exhausted and close to tears, told a news conference at a Buddhist temple in Kuala Lumpur, flanked by Hindu, Buddhist and Christian religious leaders.
"I was shocked when they told me that they would take the body when he passes away," she said.
