By: JOE FERNANDEZ
OFFICIALS of the National Registration Department (NRD) in Putrajaya will hold a dialogue in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, with those whose MyKad mistakenly identify them as Muslims.
The discussion is expected to centre on ways in which the affected MyKad holders and the NRD can come up with the most efficient way of rectifying the error. Those affected can bring along any documentary evidence in support of their claim that they are not Muslims.
Muslims have their religion denoted with the word 'Islam' on the card itself and in the embedded chip, while the religion of non-Muslims is only carried in the chip.
“We received a letter yesterday morning from the NRD headquarters in Putrajaya confirming the proposed dialogue with affected MyKad holders,” said Sabah PKR Deputy State Chief Christina Liew, who had pressed for the meeting.
The deputy director of the federal NRD is expected to chair the session at the Sabah NRD office on July 23.
Liew said she believes thousands of non-Muslims in Sabah, especially native peoples, are affected by the error.
The problem, she said, stems from the fact that even non-Muslims in the state may carry bin (son of) or binti (daughter of) in their names on their birth certificates.
This may have led the NRD in Putrajaya to mistakenly assume that any Sabahan with a ‘bin’ or ‘binti’ in their name is a Muslim, said Liew.
Another difficulty is posed by those who have 'Muslim'-sounding names along with ‘bin’ or ‘binti’ but who are in fact not Muslims.
Liew cited the example of one Adenin bin Ahmad and his father Ahmad bin Joseph, 82, whose MyKads carry the word 'Islam' although they are Christians from Tuaran.
“Adenin and his father have been going back and forth between the Sabah NRD, Muis (Sabah Islamic Council) and the Syariah Court. Till today, there has been no decision reached on their case. We will bring up this case during the dialogue.”
The mistake in Adenin's religion in his MyKad has prevented him from getting a marriage certificate from the NRD, and his third child has yet to be issued with a birth certificate.
Liew said the Syariah Court may be sitting on the case because the duo were ill-advised by the Sabah NRD to get a letter from Muis to certify that the are not Muslims.
Muis, in turn, advised the two to seek a declaration from the Syariah Court that “they had renounced Islam” - a situation that Liew said does not apply to this case.
'Double standards' alleged
The dialogue is also expected to touch on the NRD's 'double standards'. Muslims in Sabah with 'Christian-sounding' names appear to have no problems in having their religion stated correctly on their MyKad.
Liew noted that, if the religion of non-Muslims is not stated correctly, they appear to have no problems rectifying the error so long as Islam is not involved.
The NRD merely requires the applicant to fill a form requesting rectification. The waiting period for issuance of a replacement MyKad could be between a week and a month.
A Sabah NRD source said the dialogue will have to consider whether a person's word would suffice when declaring his or her religion for inclusion in the Mykad.
“There is no reason for a genuine Muslim to swear that he's not one and vice versa. People should not be given the run around on such matters. Religion is a very personal thing,” said a high-ranking insider who requested anonymity.
It is learnt that the dialogue will consider that any person in Sabah who wishes to change his religious particulars on the MyKad - if there was a mistake by the NRD - is free to do so by virtue of Article 11(1) of the federal constitution, Article 5A of the state constitution and Section 65 of Title VI of the Malaysia Agreement.
Also to be discussed is that fact that the National Registration Act is civil, not Syariah, legislation. It follows that MyKad cases cannot be referred to the Syariah Court.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete