MUSLIM PROTEST HALTS FORUM ON RELIGION IN MALAYSIA

Protesters forced lawyers in Malaysia to abandon a conference on religious conversion decrying it as an effort to challenge the official status of Islam in this Muslim-majority country.

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June 21, 2022

Protesters forced lawyers in Malaysia to abandon a conference on religious conversion decrying it as an effort to challenge the official status of Islam in this Muslim-majority country. Police instructed the Bar Council to halt the conference for security reasons after more than 300 demonstrators gathered outside the headquarters of the legal association. Council President Ambiga Sreenavasan ended the forum less than an hour after it began, saying the lawyers respected the opinions of the protesters and ‘have no quarrel with anyone’. The conference was meant to examine how families are caught in legal conflicts if one spouse in a marriage converts to Islam. Many top Muslim politicians had urged the Bar Council to scrap the talk, which was to include both Muslim and non-Muslim legal experts, saying it could inflame religious sentiments and undermine social peace. Protesters held signs that read ‘Don’t challenge Islam’ and shouted slogans including ‘Crush the Bar Council’, accusing the lawyers’ group of meddling with Islam’s position as Malaysia’s official religion. Some threatened to storm the hall where the forum was held.