MALAYSIA: Representatives of Malaysia's non-Muslim minority yesterday condemned 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.
Just over half of Malaysia's population of 26 million are Muslim, and Islam is the state religion, but the government is secular and the constitution guarantees religious minorities equality under the law.
But the case of former army commander and mountain climber M Moorthy - given a Muslim burial on Wednesday by officials from Malaysia's Islamic affairs department - has shaken the trust of some non-Muslims.
The department claimed Moorthy's body after the 36-year-old died last week , arguing Moorthy had recently converted to Islam, an assertion his widow unsuccessfully contested in the high court.
Within hours Islamic officials, escorted by police, carried Moorthy's body from the hospital 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 intention to appeal the ruling.
The prime minister's religious affairs adviser, Abdul Hamid Othman, said the state needed to ensure Muslims were not given non-Muslim funerals under laws designed to foster racial harmony.
The high court ruled it had no jurisdiction because Malaysia's Shariah court had already ruled Moorthy was a Muslim and his body could not be released to his wife for a Hindu cremation.
As a non-Muslim, his widow had not been entitled to appear before the Shariah court.
Last August, Islamic authorities ordered a demolition crew to tear down the commune of the bizarre but peaceful "teapot" sect, whose leader thinks he is God and is now on the run.
In January, religious police raided a Kuala Lumpur nightclub, rounding up and humiliating dozens of Muslim women for un-Islamic dress. - (Reuters)