The Malay World and Civilisation Institute (Atma) had announced the cancellation of the forum, titled “Polemik Kehadiran Masyarakat India di Semenanjung Tanah Melayu: Migrasi atau Imigran”, on its Facebook page.

Atma, however, did not explain why it decided to cancel the forum which was supposed to feature four academics from local universities.

The cancellation also comes in the wake of criticisms by the Minority Rights Action Party (Mira), whose deputy president S Gobi Krishnan expressed disappointment that a renowned university would be organising a talk that questioned the origins of the Indian community in Peninsular Malaysia.

“It’s disgraceful that such a programme is being organised when we are in a new Malaysia where we should abandon such racist questions,” Gobi said in a statement.

He also demanded UKM explain why it was organising the programme, especially with such a controversial title.

Gobi also questioned the absence of panellists from other races and urged Education Minister Maszlee Malik and national unity minister P Waythamoorthy to look into the matter.