37 Orang Asli To Get Hearing On Alleged Mass Conversion

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The High Court in Kuantan ruled that the dispute must be heard as it was regarding an alleged breach of constitutional right. (Facebook pic)
PETALING JAYA: A group of 137 Orang Asli in Pahang are to have their day in court on their application to overturn an alleged mass conversion to Islam some 30 years ago, following a High Court decision today to dismiss government applications to strike out their action.
Kuantan High Court judge Radzi Harun, who dismissed the applications by the federal government and Pahang religious authorities, said the civil court had jurisdiction to adjudicate the matter, lawyer A Surendra Ananth told FMT.
The lawyer, who appeared for the Orang Asli, said the judge ruled that there is a distinction between someone who wants to leave Islam and one who was never a Muslim. Radzi also ruled that the dispute must be heard as it was regarding an alleged breach of constitutional right.
In their suit, the Orang Asli group, from the Bateq Mayah tribe, said they are the children of 57 Orang Asli villagers who were converted in their homes following pressure from officials. They said they were born later and were listed as Muslims in their identity cards.
The group seeks a court ruling that their conversions were never valid and to nullify their religious status as Muslims. Their suit had originally been dismissed by the High Court in Kuantan in October last year following applications from the government and religious authorities.
The court held that the dispute should have been brought before the shariah court as the Orang Asli group are technically and officially Muslims. The court held that it did not have jurisdiction to hear the case and also ruled that the Orang Asli group’s application was out of time.
Following an appeal against the High Court decision, the Court of Appeal ordered a rehearing of the government applications to strike out the Orang Aslis’ suit.
At today’s hearing, Radzi dismissed the applications by the federal government, the department of Orang Asli development, several of its directors and officers, and the Pahang Islamic religious and Malay customs council.
Radzi held that the limitation period under the Public Authorities Protection Act 1948 and the Limitation Act 1963 did not apply to the suit, Surendra said.
In their suit, the Orang Asli said two of their village leaders were asked in early 1993 by a Jakoa representative to convert to Islam and to secure the conversion of others in the village. When the villagers refused to do so, a Jakoa officer visited the village and threatened to evict them and destroy their homes and crops.
They claim their parents were not informed of the legal implications of embracing Islam, including that they would be subject to Pahang’s Islamic legal framework and that children born to them would automatically be Muslims too.
Despite their conversions, they said they neither professed nor practised the Islamic faith, but retained the cultural and religious beliefs of the Bateq Mayah. They said they only learnt that the word “Islam” was stated on their identity cards several years later as the villagers learnt Bahasa Malaysia.
No date has been set for the hearing of their application. The court set April 15 for case management. - FMT

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