It was supposed to be a Bar Council forum on Sedition Act but the dominant topic was Saturday's rowdy demonstration by a group of Muslim protesters who forced the Conversion to Islam forum to shut down. Panelists and participants agreed on one thing — the decision to hold Saturday's forum was right because it was timely and important to address a very problematic issue. Panelist HR Dipendra said the council should have been more careful in choosing the topic for the forum, in order not to be seen as provocative. "I checked in every blog that protested against the forum and they just talk about conversion to Islam and it ends there," said the
lawyer. Although he believed there was no need for the organiser to apologise to anyone as the forum was timely and suitable, it was a question of "packaging the product".
lawyer. Although he believed there was no need for the organiser to apologise to anyone as the forum was timely and suitable, it was a question of "packaging the product".
Lecturer Wong Chin Huat saw the issue from a different perspective, arguing that the protest was a reflection of a competition among three Malay-based parties — Pas, Umno and Parti Keadilan Rakyat. He said Some leaders or members of the three parties feel the need to out-Islamise each other. While Lawyer Malik Imtiaz Sarwar who was also one of the speakers said the actions by the protesters should not be interpreted as the view of the majority, as the 300 protesters who were outside protesting do not represent the majority Muslims or Islam.Bar Council president Datuk Ambiga Sreenivasan defended her decision to end Saturday's forum earlier, saying that the safety and security of everyone in the hall was the organiser's 
responsibility. On Saturday, protesters from various Muslim organisations gathered outside the Bar Council building to oppose a forum to discuss conflict in family law arising from conversion of one party to Islam. The forum which was supposed to end at 1pm abruptly ended a little before 10am. Meanwhile, Sisters in Islam issued a statement to protest the extreme actions by Muslim NGOs and political parties in halting the forum, as well as to condemn the throwing of Molotov cocktail at Ambiga's former house and planting of two kerosene bombs in front of the Bar Council office. They said such violent acts only give a bad image of Muslims and Malaysian society surely does not tolerate these extremist or terrorist actions, the police should not have bowed to the aggressive tactics that forced the abrupt termination of a peaceful and mature dialogue.
responsibility. On Saturday, protesters from various Muslim organisations gathered outside the Bar Council building to oppose a forum to discuss conflict in family law arising from conversion of one party to Islam. The forum which was supposed to end at 1pm abruptly ended a little before 10am. Meanwhile, Sisters in Islam issued a statement to protest the extreme actions by Muslim NGOs and political parties in halting the forum, as well as to condemn the throwing of Molotov cocktail at Ambiga's former house and planting of two kerosene bombs in front of the Bar Council office. They said such violent acts only give a bad image of Muslims and Malaysian society surely does not tolerate these extremist or terrorist actions, the police should not have bowed to the aggressive tactics that forced the abrupt termination of a peaceful and mature dialogue.According to SIS, many Muslim lawyers and Muslim participants supported the dialogue and did not regard the forum as insulting or challenging Islam. The group also said Dr Naim Mokhtar who is Syarie Prosecutor for Federal Territory's Islamic Affairs Department and former Syariah High Court judge and Dr. Wan Azhar Wan Ahmad the Director of the Syariah Law and Political
Science Centre and Senior Fellow of the Institute for Islamic Understanding of Malaysia had agreed to be the panelists for the forum but pulled out at the eleventh hour. The fact was that based on the programme, three of the five panelists were Muslims. SIS was disappointed with political parties that championed human rights and freedom of speech as they had failed to practise what they preach and they have acted against their own manifesto, promised to the people, in the last general election."
Science Centre and Senior Fellow of the Institute for Islamic Understanding of Malaysia had agreed to be the panelists for the forum but pulled out at the eleventh hour. The fact was that based on the programme, three of the five panelists were Muslims. SIS was disappointed with political parties that championed human rights and freedom of speech as they had failed to practise what they preach and they have acted against their own manifesto, promised to the people, in the last general election."