Congressional briefing on Institutionalized Racism and Religious Discrimination in Malaysia

Institutionalized Racism and Religious Discrimination in Malaysia:

Since the 1970s, the Malaysian government has implemented Bumiputra (sons of the soil) policies that favor ethnic Muslim Malay citizens in economic and social considerations, while explicitly discriminating against minorities. Religious minorities have been increasingly subjected to the edicts of Islamic law through the Sharia (Islamic law) court system, where they have suffered explicit discrimination in cases involving disputes with Muslims.

In one case, a Hindu mother lost an appeal to prevent her husband, a recent Muslim convert, from changing their four year-old son’s religion to Islam. A civil court upheld the Sharia court’s ruling, allowing the husband to convert the child to Islam without the mother’s consent.

It is imperative that the U.S., which has significant foreign policy objectives in Malaysia, require that Malaysia protect the religious freedoms of minorities, save Hindu places of worship that have been threatened with demolition, and end affirmative action policies favoring the majority Muslim Malays.