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KUALA LUMPUR : Malaysian rights activists on Thursday criticised a controversial plan by a hardline Islamic party to offer cash and perks in return for converting indigenous people.
"This is a violation of human rights. It looks like religion is being made a commodity," said S. Arutchelven from human rights campaigners Voice of the Malaysian People.
"Indigenous people have their own beliefs and culture. We urge the Kelantan government to stop this programme," he told AFP.
Kelantan is the only Malaysian state under the control of the Pan-Malaysia Islamic Party (PAS) which wants to turn the multicultural country into an Islamic nation.
State officials said Monday that cash and other rewards like four-wheel-drive vehicles would be offered to Muslim preachers who married and converted indigenous people.
Kelantan Religious Affairs Committee chair Hassan Mohamood said the state government was unhappy with the conversion rate of indigenous people or "Orang Asli", who traditionally do not follow mainstream religions.
Denison Jayasooria, a commissioner with the government's Human Rights Commission of Malaysia, described the reward offer as an improper use of state funds.
"The utilisation of state resources as a motivation for preachers to convert ... is an abuse of power," he said in a statement.
The Orang Asli, the original inhabitants of Malaysia, make up less than one percent of the nation's population and are disadvantaged in terms of income, health, education and living standards.
Most Orang Asli are animists and still embrace traditional medicine-men or witch-doctors to communicate with the spiritual world.
Religion is a sensitive issue in Malaysia where some 60 percent of the country's 25 million people are Muslim Malays, living alongside ethnic Chinese, Indian and other minority communities. - CNA /ct
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