by Wilfred Pilo
KUCHING, March 29: A couple’s application to register their civil marriage at the National Registration Department (JPN) was rejected on the ground that the groom’s parents’ marriage was registered under Islamic law.
Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) Public Complaint Bureau (SPCB) chief Milton Foo in revealing this, said that sometime last year in September, SPCB was approached by a couple who had intended to register their marriage under civil law or Law Reform (Marriage And Divorce) Act (LRA) 1976.
“Since the groom’s parents’ marriage was registered under Shariah law, it constituted a stumbling block to the application for registration of their marriage by the Marriage Department of JPN,” Foo shared.
“Upon checking the religious status of the groom-to-be (herein after called ‘Mr A’) at JPN nonetheless, and notwithstanding that his parents’ marriage, was solemnised under Muslim law, his birth certificate and identity card clearly stated that he is a Christian, not a Muslim,” he told reporters during a press conference at SUPP headquarters here today.
Foo said that Mr A has been practising Christianity since a very young age and had never been told he is a Muslim by birth, nor had he practised Islam in his life.
The couple subsequently engaged a law firm in Kuching to write to the Islamic Affairs Department (JAIS) and JPN on Mr A’s religious status and to follow up on their application for marriage registration under civil law.
“After several letters and correspondences, JPN on March 2, 2023 replied to the appointed law firm, rejecting the application for marriage registration concerned,” Foo disclosed.
He said that SPCB will assist the couple and in particular, the groom to appeal to JPN in Kuala Lumpur and if necessary, write to the Minister of Home Affairs Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail for an executive review of this case, before resorting to legal remedy in court which may incur exorbitant fees.
“It is unfair if not unjust to Mr A whose birth certificate and identity card (IC) which were both issued by JPN succinctly stated that he is a Christian, and the grounds for rejecting his application for registration of civil marriage by JPN are unsustainable both in law and facts, simply because his parents’ marriage was solemnised and registered under Islamic law,” he opined.
“Mr A is a victim of our national registration system. Through no fault of Mr A’s, JPN has keyed in his biodata in particular his religious status as ‘Christian’ during the registration of his birth certificate and the making of his IC which also states that he is a Christian,” he said. — DayakDaily
