In an interesting article from Yahoo Malaysia, a woman is fighting for the right to reverse conversion of Islam back to her Hindu roots, as she was reportedly forced to convert into Islam as a child in an orphanage by its officials back in the year 1983.

This is sure to add fuel to the anger of the non-Muslim citizens of this multi-racial country, that are practically fighting for equal religious rights and not being forced into a religion that is not of their choosing. In recent years, religion has become a tense issue especially to sensitive and fanatical politicians and extremists who use it to entice voting power and is indirectly threatening the peaceful multi-racial country.

The case threatens to further anger non-Muslims who have complained that their religious rights are being sidelined, and could further erode minority support for the government. Lawyer Gooi Hsiao Leung said Banggarma Subramaniam, 27, and her three siblings were under the care of a government orphanage in northern Penang state when she was converted to Islam by welfare officials in 1989 when she was seven years old. “The conversion itself from the start was illegal. She wants to restore her Hindu faith and practice her religion freely,” he told the Associated Press.

She ran away when she was 16 and got married two years later in 2001 in a traditional Hindu ceremony. When she returned to the home to collect her identity card and other documents, she was given the Muslim conversion certificate which listed her name as Siti Hasnah Vanga-rama Abdullah, said Gooi. She has been unable to register her marriage or name her husband as the father of their two children in their birth certificates as she is listed a Muslim. Banggarma’s husband must convert to Islam to legally wed her as marriage between Muslims and non-Muslims is not allowed in the country. This is one of the many uncertainties brought into focus within the Constitution of Malaysia. Malaysia has a dual court system with civil courts for non-Muslims and Shariah courts for Muslims. In interfaith disputes involving Islam, the Syariah courts typically get the last word, which has upset non-Muslims who fear they cannot get justice in such courts.

The Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism reiterated calls for legislative reforms to “ensure that Islam, and Islamic law, is not forced upon people like Banggarma who do not profess themselves as Muslim.” Banggarma “should have complete freedom to choose her own religion without having to go through any procedure or counseling,” it said in a statement.

If she renounces Islam, Banggarma risks being charged with apostasy, which in Malaysia _ as in many Islamic nations _ is regarded a crime punishable by fines and jail sentences. Offenders are often sent to prison-like rehabilitation centers. Minorities are increasingly becoming worried that their rights have become subordinate to those of ethnic Malay Muslims, who form nearly 60 percent of Malaysia’s 28 million people.

Was this the reason why we gained independence? So that we are subjected to prejudice and double standards? This country used to be peaceful and we could happily coexist with any race or religion. In recent years, fanatical people in politics and some extremist groups, have tarnished the good and peaceful nature of Islam, twisted it to suit their own gains and abused their power, to inflict tyranny upon the people who one believed in freedom. What has this country come to?