MIC Deputy President SK Devamany welcomed the sacking by Higher Education Minister Idris Jusoh earlier this morning, saying that it sent a clear message that those who distorted facts and encouraged discord among races would not be allowed to penetrate the nation’s education system.
“We are supposed to teach our children and youth, harmony and unity.
“Race relations in the country is not so good at the moment, and such slides only worsen the situation. I thank UTM and Idris (Jusoh) for taking the measure (to sack the lecturer),” the Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department told FMT.
Devamany also thanked Idris for seeking the advice of The Malaysian Consultative Council on Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism (MCCBCHST) on education matters in the country.
Earlier today, Idris told business radio station BFM that the lecturer who had prepared slides that portrayed Hindus as “dirty” (among others), and misrepresented the history of Sikhism, had been sacked.
The minister, however, maintained that the decision to remove the lecturer was made by the university, which has the autonomy to do it, and that the directive did not come from his ministry.
DAP’s P Ramasamy was, however, sceptical about Idris saying the ministry had no part in the sacking.
“Come on Idris, do not pretend. I served in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia for 25 years (between 1981 and 2005).
“Please do not say you do not know anything. I know many vice-chancellors who have ‘whispered’ that the ministry held a tight rein on public varsities,” said the Penang Deputy Chief Minister II.
Ramasamy said the problem went beyond the sacking of the particular lecturer.
He claimed that inherent bigotry and religious extremism was prevalent in many public universities.
While Ramasamy applauded the UTM vice-chancellor for coming out and responding to the allegations, he questioned how a lecturer who was not qualified in Titas was tasked to teach the module in the first place.
He said the root cause of the problem was the “institutionalised racism used by the ruling government to hold on to power”.