KUALA LUMPUR – Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz today expressed support for the court’s decision to grant custody of the child to single mother Loh Siew Hong.
Nazri (Padang Rengas-BN) said there is no coercion in Islam.
Therefore, if it cannot be proven that the religion is practiced voluntarily, then the conversion is not acceptable, he said.
“In terms of the religion of the three children, we need to see what the common religion of both their parents is when they got married.
“I understand, their mother is Hindu, and their father is also Hindu (at the time).
“So, basically they and their family are Hindus,” he said, when debating the Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s speech in the Dewan Rakyat today.
Nazri also cited the case of single mother Indira Gandhi, when her still breastfeeding child was reportedly abducted by her ex-husband, who later converted to Islam.
“As a Muslim, I am not proud of issues like this.”
Nazri then sought clarification from Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Parliament and Law), Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar, on whether the government would amend the interpretation of parents as “mothers and fathers” after the previous confusion.
He said this matter is also related to the rights of local mothers, who should be entitled to grant citizenship rights to their children born abroad.
“I understand we will amend the constitution. In the amendment, will we also include an amendment to set aside the meaning of parents as ‘mothers or fathers’?
"Parents should mean ‘mother and father’, not ‘mother or father’.” – The Vibes, March 2, 2022
