They said if the allegations were true, it would be not only an attack on religious freedom but an affront to the dignity, identity, and autonomy of Sabah and Sarawak.

“We demand an immediate and public explanation from the higher education minister,” they said in a joint statement today.

They also said the minister should explain why non-Muslim students were being forced to attend such religious programmes, and whether there was a policy – official or unofficial – to “push religious conversion” on the students.

“What are you doing to protect the constitutional rights of non-Muslim Bumiputera students?” they said in the statement issued by the Global Human Rights Federation Malaysia, Borneo’s Plight in Malaysia Foundation, Republic of Sabah North Borneo, Persatuan Pembangunan Sosial Komuniti Sabah, Pertubuhan Kebajikan Rumpun Dayak Sabah, and Forum Adat Dataran Tanah Tinggi Borneo.

A Sarawak DAP man yesterday urged UiTM to explain claims that non-Muslim Bumiputera students from East Malaysia had been forced to attend the Islamic activity.

Michael Kong, an aide to state DAP chief Chong Chieng Jen, said such actions, if true, were unacceptable in a nation where citizens of diverse backgrounds and faiths coexist peacefully.

FMT has reached out to UiTM and the minister for comment.

According to viral posters of the alleged two-day event, all non-Muslim students and 10 Muslim students from each class at UiTM Shah Alam were required to attend an “identity and spirituality camp” at a mosque.

The purported programme had sessions that would split the non-Muslim and Muslim students, and others related to Islamic teachings or practices involving all the participants.