Indira Gandhi goes on roadshow to seek help locating daughter abducted by convert father

IPOH, Aug 21 — M. Indira Gandhi is set to start a roadshow nationwide to seek the help from the public to locate her missing daughter Prasana Diksa, who is abducted by her Muslim convert former husband.

Indira Gandhi Action Team (Ingat) chairman Arun Doraisamy said that the roadshow, which is jointly organised by several other Indian groups, will kick-start this Saturday at Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur.

Arun said that Indira will be sharing about her decade-long story of her missing child, who was unilaterally converted to Islam, together with the other two children by her former husband Muhammad Ridhuan Abdullah.

“However, the main focus of the roadshow is to highlight to the public and authorities that the case is no longer a case of unilateral conversion of children, but a case of a missing child.

“This is because the Federal Court ruled last January that the unilateral conversions of Indira’s children were unlawful and ordered her former husband to return Prasana to her, despite that, the child is yet to be reunited with her mother. The mission now is to trace and recover Prasana,” he told Malay Mail.

Arun also hopes that the authorities will reclassify the case as a missing person.

He said that the roadshow will continue at Kluang, Johor, the following week and will be carried out to several other states, including Perak, Penang, Kedah and also Kelantan.

“We hope that the roadshow will create awareness among the public of the missing child and also allow the public to be our ears and eyes, so that we can get information about Prasana,” he said.

Ridhuan took Prasana in 2009 when she was just 11 months old shortly after converting to Islam. He had also converted their three children to Islam without Indira’s knowledge.

After a protracted court battle, the Federal Court ruled last January that the unilateral conversions of Indira’s children were unlawful.

However, the police have yet to recover Prasana and return her to Indira despite the decision and a previous mandamus order she secured compelling the inspector-general of police to execute the recovery.

A special task force was also formed to locate Ridhuan and Prasana, but four months on, still no signs of their whereabouts.

Last month, the Inspector-General of Police Datuk Seri Abdul Hamid Bador, who was appointed in May, vowed that he will personally oversee efforts for a “happy ending” in the case of Indira.

Abdul Hamid also said that he will meet Indira over the matter, however, he did not mention any specific date on when the meeting is going to take place.

Arun said that Ingat had hired a private investigation team, who he said are closing in on locating the whereabouts of Prasana.

“Yes, we are closing in on locating Prasana, but we could not act without the help of police. We have some information which might help the police locate Prasana.

“However, to do that, we must first meet the Inspector-General of Police. It’s not going to be easy as there will be a lot issues and problems will arise when we recover Prasana,” he said.

But, Arun stressed that Ingat is ready, so much so, that they are already working on post-Prasana retrieval plan, which is also the case why prominent lawyer Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan steps into the picture.

“When we retrieve Prasana, there are going to be a lot of issues such as legal matters, security issues, her studies and a few more.

“But we have been working on to cover all the issues so that we won’t be on the weak side when we recover the child. And we are doing everything with the legal advice and support of Ambiga,” he said.

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