Fathi Hisham, a spokesman for Kemas (Kesatuan Mahasiswa Sedar), said the participation of the two students in the event was in breach of the law which prohibits students from being active in politics.
“It is our stance that universities and the students should be free from any political parties’ influence whether it is PAS, PKR, DAP, or Umno. This is to uphold the university’s reputation,” he told reporters here at the Kuala Lumpur Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall.
Brandishing photographic evidence to back up the group’s claims, Fathi went on to allege that the students’ attendance at the Umno event appeared to have been officially sanctioned.
“The picture shows that the university students involved, wearing a white Baju Melayu, with a songkok and sampin with the Umno party logo, which had led us to believe that they are aware of their participation and are backed by the university’s administration,” the second year student in anthropology and sociology claimed.
Fathi, however, refused to divulge the names of the students photographed but revealed that one of them was an Islamic studies student while the other was enrolled in an engineering course.
Highlighting that a student identified only as “Saudari Sok Hua” had been disciplined after a picture of her wearing a shirt with a political party’s logo appeared in a newspaper a few years ago, he said there must not be any double standards in enforcing the law.
Fathi added that while university students were allowed to discuss and analyse political issues, they could not campaign for political parties.
Ridzuan Ramli, 21, one of the Kemas’s vice presidents, then demanded immediate action to be taken.
“We urge the UKM’s student affairs department to immediately investigate this case according to the law and appropriate procedures.
“We also demand that the Ministry of Higher Education, especially Datuk Khaled Nordin as the minister to set up a special taskforce to investigate the involvement of the university administration, [which] we believe are also involved, along with the university students,” said the second year Islamic studies student.
“We will continue to expose students who are involved in politics,” he warned.
Fathi said the group has yet to approach representatives from UKM but added that Kemas would continue to hold press conferences in their fight to uphold the law.
On September 28, High Court (Appellate and Special Powers) Judge Datuk Aziah Ali dismissed an application by four UKM students who had wanted the Universities and University Colleges Act 1971 declared unconstitutional.
They had resorted to the action to prevent UKM from acting against them for allegedly having violated the restrictions during the Hulu Selangor by-election in May. - Malaysian Insider
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