April 05, 2010

The Interfaith Panel-A Great Start but.....


News that the Cabinet finally agreed to set up this Panel to be headed by Ilani Ishak is most welcome by all quarters but some parties are cautioning that we should not read too much into it because many issues need to be ironed out before a truly working panel can do its work.


Issues like the restriction of a word to call God, proselytism,burials arising out of 'hidden' conversion and child custody are currently major concerns.


Until the leaders of all the religions in this country sit together on a common platform and come to an agreement on the resolution of these issues,having such a panel may just be ornamental and could even become a mockery.


We await for details on its set up and its terms of reference because as the Bard says," The devil is in the details"!