Malaysiakini | S Pathmawathy | Apr 27, 09 5:02pm
Five thousand missing persons posters have been printed to help find Muslim convert, K Patmanathan, and his one-year-old daughter Prasana Diksa.
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Last week, the Ipoh High Court granted M Indira Ghandi the custody of all her three children, who were converted by their father without her knowledge on April 12, pending the full custody hearing on May 12. As the older children – Tevi Darsiny, 12 and Karan Dinesh, 11 – were in the care of their mother from the beginning, the court ordered that the youngest child which is in her father’s care to be returned to the mother. However, despite the court order to return the toddler, the father, who has since the conversion assumed the name Mohd Ridzuan Abdullah, has gone missing. |
According to Indira, the police had informed her that they visited Mohd Ridzuan’s mother’s house to look for the child, who was said to be in her grandmother’s care, on Friday but return empty-handed.
“They have not taken the initiative to do anything else to look for him… I am only worried about my baby, I don’t how she is doing as she is so young,” said Indira.
Indira told Malaysiakini that after the court had given the interim order, her husband telephoned her.
“He complained that what I am doing to get my children back as they were, before they were brought into this confusion, is giving him problems,” said Indira.
Indira also said her husband informed her that he was leaving for Singapore with their youngest child and will not return her to the mother despite the court order.
“So with the help of DAP and Malaysia Hindu Sangam (MHS), we have printed posters with the photo of Mohd Ridzuan and my baby Prasana,” she said.
Refused to accept the Syariah Court order
The life of the Hindu mother took a turn for the worst after discovering that her husband, had converted to Islam last month and converted their children without her knowledge and consent.
Mohd Ridzuan also took custody of the youngest child without getting a mutual agreement and obtained a Syariah Court order to gain custody of his two older children.
In a recent exclusive interview with Malaysiakini, she also claimed that her husband had converted their two older children without their presence and by using their birth certificates.
Indira has sought refuge with a relative in fear that Islamic officials would take the two children away since her husband has a Syariah Court order giving him custody of the children.
However, Indira has refused to accept the Syariah Court order.
Since then, Indira has approached various religious civil society groups to pressure the government to take a firm stand on conversion issues.
Her lawyer, M Kulasegaran, when contacted, informed that they need to serve the court order on Mohd Ridzuan, as the case was to start on May 12.
“Patmanathan (Mohd Ridzuan) is aware of the court order as he had spoken to Indira after the interim order was obtained on Friday.
“In fact, he told Indira that he is taking the child to Singapore with him. We have duly informed the police who have said all border posts have been informed to prevent him leaving the country,” said Kulasegaran, who is also the DAP Ipoh Barat member of parliament.
“Somehow I have a feeling he is hiding in Ipoh and (he) is trying to avoid service of court documents… We had requested the police assistance to print posters of Patmanathan last week but it has not taken place to date,” stated Kulasegaran in his blog.
A test of Najib’s ‘Performance Now’ motto
DAP stalwart Lim Kit Siang, in his blog entry said that the efficiency of the government agencies in relation to the conversion case is putting to test new Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s “Performance Now” motto.
“Yesterday, I had asked the Ipoh police officers how much longer must Indira wait before the police could discover the baby’s whereabouts and return her to the mother.
“I told them that it would reflect very poorly on the capabilities and performance of the Ipoh police if they could not find the baby girl and return her immediately to her mother,” he exclaimed.
He hinted that Najib should take note of the observation made by Indonesian Islamic scholar and former foreign minister, Dr Alwi Abdurrahman Shihab who was in Malaysia a few days ago, that issues of “forced conversion of children to Islam are unknown in Indonesia, while in Malaysia, it has been allowed to be an increasingly polarising factor in race and religious relations”.
“Forced conversions of children is a most unhealthy phenomenon which should not be continued if Najib is serious about another motto of his philosophy, 1Malaysia,” said Lim.