Leaders of Malaysia’s non-Muslim religions condemned on Thursday the state’s decision to give a man a Muslim burial against his Hindu widow’s wishes, and called for a review of their constitutional rights.‘‘We are concerned that the fundamental rights of other religions in this country are being slowly eroded,’’ said Venki Sankar, an ethnic Indian business leader and a Hindu. ‘‘It makes us feel very angry.’’Just over half of Malaysia’s population of 26 million are Muslim, and Islam is the state religion, but the government is secular and the constitution guarantees religious minorities, such as Hindus, Buddhists and Christians, equality under the law.Moorthy’s widow, Kaliammal Sinnasamy, who had been at his bedside when he died, did not attend the burial which went ahead despite her legal team’s intention to appeal against the ruling.‘‘My husband is a Hindu and at no time did I know he was a Muslim,’’ Sinnasamy, looking exhausted and close to tears, told a news conference at a Buddhist temple in Kuala Lumpur, flanked by Hindu, Buddhist and Christian religious leaders. —Reuters
