A case of dads gone wrong
Why do some men exact vengeance on their former spouses by using their innocent kids as pawns?
Sandra John, Free Malaysia Today
Father’s Day is just around the corner and as kids everywhere sit down to think of touching ways to pay tribute to their dads, just what are the kids of M Indira Gandhi and S Deepa doing when they think about theirs—the men who vindictively snatched them away from the familiar and loving arms of their mothers?
Having introduced trauma, heartache, fear, confusion, loss and an uncertain future into their children’s lives at so young an age, just how would Mohd Ridzuan and Izwan Abdullah like their children to think of them?
As tyrannical, maniacal and self-centred men who have manipulated their newfound religion to exact vengeance on their former spouses for whatever reasons their marriages failed? Or as loving fathers who want only the best for their children?
It’s one thing to be a father, quite another to be a dad.
Any man can father a child. But dads? Dads are special. These are the men who take a daily, genuine interest in their kids’ lives. Men who provide for their children no matter what hardship they have to go through. Men who believe they must protect the little lives they brought into this world.
These are real men who care for their children regardless of their relationship with the mother of those children. Certainly Mohd Ridzuan and Izwan Abdullah do not fall into this category.
Both were Hindus who converted to Islam and then proceeded to convert their kids without the prior consent, much less knowledge, of their respective spouses.
Pretty greeting cards, heartfelt gifts and touching gestures of love will be something the kids of Indira Gandhi and S Deepa will struggle with this Father’s Day because to these little ones, they are now without the deep and binding love that only a mother can give. Whether it comes from carrying a child for nine whole months or caring for them from the moment they are little babes, a mother’s love is quite indescribable and tough to match.
The behaviour of both Mohd Ridzuan and Izwan Abdullah has shown us how supreme egos and total disdain for the law, whether Syariah or civil, can get in the way of rational thinking and being a good dad. Worse yet, they have clearly shown it is their ego and not the child’s welfare that is at the heart of the matter.
