In a statement, Sivarraajh said a public apology was in order and that the “damage had been done”, after slides of the module which were demeaning to Hindus and Sikhs, went viral yesterday.

Among the controversial points in the slides were that Islam introduced the meaning of politeness and personal hygiene to Hindus in India.

“It is intolerable for one of the oldest universities in the country to make such a silly and stupid mistake.

“All teaching materials should have been thoroughly vetted for accurate facts and should not have been blindly accepted for publication.”

Sivarraajh said those responsible for developing the modules should understand that Malaysia is a multi-religious society and that religion is a sensitive matter and modules which disparage any religion should not be allowed.

He added that to avoid a recurrence of such incidences, teaching materials on religion and culture should be screened by inter-religious and cultural organisations.

Meanwhile, The Star Online reported that MIC’s S. Vell Paari had urged the authorities to investigate UTM for sedition over the incident.

He said the vice-chancellor’s admission of the mistake was insufficient and also questioned whether the module had been vetted by the university’s academic staff beforehand.

Yesterday, it was reported that after the slides went viral Deputy Education Minister P Kamalanathan said he spoke to UTM’s vice-chancellor (VC), who acknowledged the “mistake”.

According to Kamalanathan, the VC said the necessary corrections to the module concerned would be done expeditiously.

A check on UTM’s website identifies Prof Wahid Omar as the institution’s vice-chancellor.