Religious row flares in Malaysia

[Coventina]

Source: BBC

Police in Malaysia have said they will release nine Christians mistakenly accused of trying to convert Muslim university students to Christianity.

A university security guard wrongly thought they were handing Christian pamphlets to Muslims, police said.

Trying to convert Muslims to another religion is forbidden in Malaysia, though Muslims may proselytise.

Members of religious minorities have complained that their rights are being ignored in Muslim-majority Malaysia.

The nine Christians, five students and four friends from Hong Kong, were arrested late on Tuesday at Universiti Putra Malaysia in Serdang, near Kuala Lumpur.

District police chief Zahedi Ayob said they had been distributing questionnaires to other Christians, not Muslims, as security guards at the university had believed.

The arrests followed a controversy last week centring on two journalists who wrote about hiding their Muslim identity in order to receive Communion at a Roman Catholic church.



Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8151352.stm

[cosmicone]

1. Trying to convert people should be banned worldwide.

The decision to convert should come from an individual and not lobbied for or rammed down their throats.

All missionary activities should thus be banned worldwide and made a criminal offense against the host cultures.