We are not anti-Islam, Bar Council

By Debra Chong
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 19 — The Bar Council, which has come under attack for organising a forum on conversion and Islam 10 days ago, emphatically denied PKR MP Zulkifli Nordin’s accusation that it is anti-Islam.

Zulkifli, who was one of the leaders in the rowdy protest against the forum that day, told the press yesterday that he was considering proposing a motion in Parliament to sanction the Bar Council for its anti-Islam stand.

“He was a former council member, you know. And everyone knows our stance. Our more than 50-year history will attest to the fact that we are a multi-racial, multi-religious organisation consisting of members from all religions,” said Bar Council president Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan.

She went on to say that his description of events that took place that day was not accurate. “What I would say is, the film is on YouTube... what took place... and it speaks volumes for itself. There are also many witnesses. You can ask any one of them.

“As far as the motion is concerned, of course he is free to say what he wants, but nothing could be further from the truth. We believe in the freedom of all to practise their religious beliefs and we are the last to be anti any religion.

“Nothing said in the forum can be remotely called anti-Islamic. In fact, half the participants were Muslim. What Dr Mehrun Siraj said will attest to this and shows you there was nothing un-Islamic about that forum. People like her will definitely not sit in a forum like that if it’s going to be anti-Islam.

“The forum was essentially to discuss the jurisdictional conflict between the syariah court and the civil court. The other thing to note is that it has been reported that Pas wants to dialogue with us and we are ready to do that.”

A past president of the Bar Council, Datuk Kuthubul Zaman Bukhari, reaffirmed Ambiga’s position about where the council stands on matters relating to all religions, not just Islam.

“The Bar Council has never been anti-Islam. I was president of the Bar Council for two years, I’ve been a member of the Bar Council for the last 14 years and I am still a council member now, and for sure, being a Muslim, I can consider myself a staunch Muslim as well. The Bar Council has never taken any stand that is anti-Islam. The Bar Council has never taken any position against any racial, religious, ideology and so on. The Bar Council is free from all this,” he said.

“I take issue with the fact that he says the Bar Council did not seek representatives from Islam, I think he’s wrong and the facts speak for themselves. There should be an ex-syariah judge there, someone from Ikim as well, or at least, they wanted to come but subsequently pulled out.

“I totally disagree with the stand taken by Zulkifli. Everybody knows what the Bar Council is about.”

Meanwhile, Lim Chee Wee, the Bar Council secretary whom Zulkifli said had invited him into the auditorium to verify that the forum had indeed ended, had a very different account of what happened that day.

“Ambiga had actually consented to invite him up to discuss whether the session should end early or continue. So Ambiga actually invited him into the building to have that discussion with her.

“Downstairs, essentially what happened was, he basically told us, if we didn’t stop the meeting at 10 o’clock, he would invite the more hostile and aggressive of the demonstrators to storm the building. That was how he put it.

“So, under those circumstances, we had no choice but to invite four representatives to go upstairs to witness and confirm that the forum would end at 10 o’clock. We were under threat of people storming the forum. That’s Number One.

“Number Two... you saw their behaviour when they were in the auditorium. You saw the way they didn’t sit down, they stood in front of all the speakers and they started shouting, coming close to 10 o’clock or thereabouts, to ask us to close the forum. And then there was the unpleasant exchange of things between Muslim and Muslim. He shouted at Mehrun.

“And the one thing I hope you can say in The Malaysian Insider is this: nobody, nobody can actually quote any speaker at the forum for criticising Islam, who challenged the position of Islam in our Federal Constitution, who challenged Article 121(i). Nobody was critical of any religion.

“What people spoke about was the effect of a spouse or parent who converted and then they were left abandoned.”

He said the Bar Council was particularly concerned that some of the newspapers played up the perception that the council was anti-Islam. “The Pas Research Centre and Dr Mehrun Siraj herself said we should have an open dialogue so as to educate Muslims and non-Muslims.”
Click this link to read more!

Pak Lah - Let's Hamid decide on Bar Council

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said yesterday that he would leave it to the Home Ministry to decide whether to take action against the Bar Council including using the Internal Security Act and Sedition Act for organising the "Conversion to Islam" forum in the federal capital on Saturday which resulted in a tense situation.

"I leave it to the Home Ministry to study what happened, and if there is concrete evidence, the ministry will decide on what action to take," he said when asked about calls by various quarters for the government to invoke the Acts against the Bar Council.

Speaking to reporters after chairing the inaugural meeting of the National Economic Council at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre here, Abdullah said he hoped such forums would not be organised in future.

"Issues concerning religion are very sensitive. Matters (on religion) are already spelt out... there is no need for discussions," he said, adding that between having and not having them, it was better to opt for the latter.

The Bar Council had gone ahead with the forum despite being advised by many quarters including Cabinet ministers to call it off so as not to offend communal sensitivities.

Abdullah added that it was more important for the people to learn from what happened to avoid a similar situation from recurring.

About 1,000 people from various political parties and Muslim non-governmental organisations gathered at the venue to demand a stop to the forum.

As the situation got tense and on the advice of the police, the Bar Council called off the forum, which was to last a day, an hour after it started at 9am.

Asked if the Barisan Nasional had shortlisted its candidates for the Permatang Pauh by-election on Aug 26, Abdullah said: "The lists are always short." — Bernama
Click this link to read more!

Malay Muslim groups invasion caused Bar Council to stop forum

An open forum organised by the Bar Council to discuss matters of conflict in family law arising from one party's conversion to Islam today was interrupted by protesters from several Malay-Muslim movements.

In her opening speech, Bar Council president Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan invited the protesters to join the forum and share their dissenting views.

"I'm aware this forum has drawn many criticisms from many quarters. I don't have a problem with criticism... there are demonstrators outside, you can hear them," she said.

Jerking her chin towards the windows at the back of the auditorium, she continued: "We have absolutely no quarrel with them. They are exercising their freedom of speech. We hope they'll be allowed to carry out their demonstration peacefully. We're certainly not lodging any police report."

At 9.25am, just as the forum was warming up, Ambiga informed the participants inside the auditorium that the police had advised the forum be wrapped up by 10am.

According to reports, the 100-plus protesters, who had been demonstrating outside the building since 8am, had swelled tremendously and were in danger of turning more than unruly.

[Strong police presence outside the Bar Council building.]

At 9.50am, a handful of protesters, led by Kulim Bandar Baharu parliamentarian Zulkifli Noordin from Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), muscled their way to the front of the first-floor auditorium at the Bar Council headquarters in Leboh Pasar Besar here amid an ongoing and lively discussion on the 2006 court case of R. Subashini, whose ethnic Indian husband T. Saravanan had embraced Islam and converted their five-year-old son without her knowledge or consent.

Despite the heavy police escort, heated words were exchanged between some of the protesters and some members of the Bar Council. The word "monkey" was heard bandied about several times by both sides.

Calls for calm by the forum moderator, Zarizana Abdul Aziz, a lawyer from the Penang-based non-government organisation Women's Centre for Change, were ignored, as were calls from the floor for the protesters, hogging the central aisle, to sit down and not block the view of the forum panellists.

Surprisingly, the discussion still went on. In fact, the topic had moved onwards to the case of S. Shamala, whose husband Dr M. Jeyaganesh embraced Islam four years after their marriage and converted their two children as well.

The incident came close to turning into a real fracas when one of the protesters, a stout man in a white shirt with green lining on the sleeves, grabbed a microphone and shouted: "I represent Umno Malaysia! Close this forum right now!"

“Don’t insult Islam” and “You! Chinese, Indians, go to hell!” he shouted, reported politics 101 malaysia.

The man, who only identified himself as Jais, added: "We want to give advice; next time, don't have things like this that challenge the people of Islam."

Immediately, an incensed woman, lost within the crowd of hulking men, latched onto another microphone and hollered right back: "You represent Umno; I represent the Muslims! I'm ashamed by your behaviour! Islam does not condone this behaviour! Do not make use of Islam!"

Turns out that the chilli padi was Dr Mehrun Siraj, an outspoken law lecturer at the International Islamic University and a former member of the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam).

The male protesters looked fit to burst a blood vessel at her words. Fortunately, members of the Bar Council secretariat were on hand and quickly intervened before anything untoward happened in that highly charged atmosphere.

A lawyer on the sidelines shook her head and tsk-ed at the chaos in front of her. "They're bullies! Such bullies!" she said, though she did not elaborate whom she was referring to.

[Protestors gather outside to express their opposition to the forum.]


The organising committee from the Family Law Department of the Bar Council went around the room and repeatedly called on the protesters and the annoyed participants to take their seats. They too were mostly ignored.

It was only when Ambiga finally took control of the microphone and announced in a loud and exasperated voice that the crowd inside finally listened: "Ladies and gentlemen, I'm going to close this forum, right after everyone sits down. Please sit down."

The time was three minutes to 10am.

For all that the forum lasted only an hour and 10 minutes, when it was schedued to last till lunch time, Ambiga was satisfied. She found the discussion fruitful.

"It's unfortunate that we could not carry on with the forum. It's a real shame we had to stop the forum due to the advice from the police.

"I have great faith in our ability and maturity, as Malaysians, to discuss sensitive issues sensibly. I do not subscribe to the view that we cannot talk about sensitive issues, not for one minute. Not today. Maybe it was the case 30 years ago, but not today," Ambiga concluded.

Excerpt from http://themalaysianinsider.com/index.php/headlines/42-lead-stories/
2759-the-day-the-loudest-won-the-day-or-did-they
Click this link to read more!

Bar Council conversions forum stopped by people's protest

Several hundred protesters demonstrated outside the Bar Council forum on conversions to Islam this morning, with some forcing their way into the hall as police called on the organisers to wrap up proceedings by 10am.

Witnesses said several protesters entered the building escorted by police, stood in the middle of the hall and stared at the several hundred participants attending the "Conversion to Islam: Article 121(1A) of the Federal Constitution, Subashini & Shamala Revisited" forum.

The protesters had gathered since 8am and brought out banners criticising and condemning the forum which has received objections from both government and opposition leaders.

At 9.25am, Bar Council president Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan interrupted the forum to say the police have advised them to wrap it up by 10am as protest still going on outside the building. The forum began at 8.45am.

Ambiga closed the forum 3 minutes before 10am deadline. Protesters still trying to barge in. Pas Unit Amal members standing between them and the police, trying to stop them.

Protesters are leaving but some are trying to chase and harass participants coming out. Bar Council members are seen seeking the help of the police to prevent this.

Excerpt from http://themalaysianinsider.com/index.php/headlines/
42-lead-stories/2741-protest-stops-bar-council-conversions-forum
Click this link to read more!