Burmese President signs the "shameful law" regulating religion, marriages and family life
Yangon (AsiaNews) - Burmese President Thein Sein has approved the controversial bill on religion and family planning, sending it to the Parliament for final approval. He signed it yesterday and immediately sparked protests and criticism from human rights activists and associations who judge the new norm "discrimination against women" and "Muslims", in a nation that is still conservative and Buddhist majority. The ball is now in Parliaments court when it meets next week to discuss the various points in question, which include restrictions on mixed marriages, conversions and the number of people per household.
The law signed yesterday by
President is the result if a campaign led by a radical and extremist Buddhist
group called the Association for
the Protection of Race and Religion
which has put forward four proposals that
regulate marriage, the practice
of worship, polygamy and family
planning.
Under the proposed norm, anyone wishing to convert to another
religion will have to follow complicated bureaucratic procedures or face yet to be decided penalties. It also regulates the
marriage of Buddhist women with
men of other religions.
These women will have to ask permission
from the local authorities to
celebrate the wedding, prior to it being publically registered. The spouses may marry "only if" there are no objections and, in case of violation of the law, could face up to several years in prison.
Activists of the Kachin Peace
Network say that "the
government wants to discriminate against a particular nationality and religion" and branded
the new law as a "shame for all
citizens of Myanmar." And
women's movements warn of possible abuse of the female partner in the
couple, calling it a "double
trap". The project of family planning, which would
impose restrictions on births has also
met with widespread criticism.
The demand for laws protecting religion (Buddhism) and
race in Myanmar,
particularly among radical Buddhist
groups, has grown in tandem with the violence between Buddhists and Muslims in the western state of
Rakhine, in 2012. The clashes between the
two communities have caused more than
200 deaths and at least 140
thousand displaced persons; although
the law signed by President does
not make a specific references to
any religion, many believe that
it was written to prevent Muslims
from converting Buddhist women
through marriage.
There have been long running protests against the law that will legislate for religions, marriages and family life. May last, a movement composed of 97 different multi-ethnic and multi-religious associations - including Christians and Catholics - slammed the proposal because it "attacks women and religious harmony" and was drawn up to cover political interests. Last January, the the Archbishop of Yangon, Msgr. Charles Bo, also spoke out on the issue declaring that "the right to marry, convert and vote are inviolable human rights".
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