Referring to the PSD’s recent statement threatening to cut student scholarships, Nurul said this was a form of oppression, and was similar to the notorious Universities and University Colleges Act 1971 (AUKU) imposed on students.

She also said the decision to pull scholarships deprived students of the chance to be critical and analytical in their thinking.

“JPA’s decision to cut bursaries is only meant to intimidate students and deprive them of being critical and analytical in the future,” Nurul said in a statement today.

She added that critical and analytical thinking should be cultivated by students from the beginning so they could develop into better future leaders.

Student activist Anis Syafiqah Mohd Yusof said students’ criticisms could be considered feedback for the government to perform better.

“The government should be able to receive criticism as a form of check and balance in improving the state of administration,” said Anis in a statement today.

She said such decisions to scrap the bursaries of students who were critical was against the National Transformation 2050 (TN50) government initiative, which itself was based on students’ opinions and aspirations.

It was reported earlier that JPA director-general Zainal Rahim Seman had announced that students could risk losing their federal sponsorships if they were found to have criticised the government or country on social media sites or blogs.