The organiser of a law event at Universiti Malaya (UM) has denied allegations that a student was removed from being a forum co-panellist due to pressure from Youth and Sports Deputy Minister Adam Adli and Miri MP Chiew Choon Man.
This followed a statement by Liga Mahasiswa Malaysia that demanded the two MPs issue a public apology to student activist Alyaah Hani Anuar over the alleged government interference.
Adam and Chiew, who were co-panellists at the forum discussing freedom of expression held at the university’s Law Faculty earlier today, have refuted the claims.
According to UM Consti Team advisor Sheila Ramalingam, the decision not to include Hani in the session was to ensure all panellists have similar standing.
This was because they also had constitutional expert Shad Saleem Faruqi, who is an emeritus professor, as a co-panellist.
“If I understand correctly, she was asked to be a panellist yesterday because there were other people (invited panellists) who dropped out, so we were looking for replacements, and they (organising committee members) went and looked at her.
“(But) when they came to me, I said there shouldn’t be any students on the panel.
“Not because she’s a student, but because the panellists all should be of the same standing. So you can’t have a professor emeritus, Professor Shad with a student, you know, ‘tak ngam’ (not suitable),” said Sheila.
The lecturer was speaking to Malaysiakini when met after the panel discussion session titled “Unmute the Nation: The Constitution’s Promise of Freedom”.
An outspoken student-activist, Hani has taken the government to task over potential plans to reinstate a travel ban on National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN) loan defaulters.
On March 13, the third-year law student highlighted how recommendations for stricter approaches to hold defaulters accountable often come from individuals with privileged backgrounds “detached from grassroots realities”.
‘Cowardly act’
Earlier today, Liga Mahasiswa in a statement claimed the two PKR MPs requested the organiser to exclude Hani from the panel if they wanted them to attend their event.
“To make it worse, there was also a request for Hani not to be anywhere near the forum venue.
“This is not only a form of silencing students’ voices, but also a cowardly act that shows fear of differences in opinion,” the group said.
When contacted, Hani, who is the Liga Mahasiswa UM president, said she received an invitation to be an emcee on May 10.
Due to a shortage of panellists, she said the organiser invited her yesterday to be a co-panellist with Shad, Adam, and Chiew, to which she agreed.
However, at 6pm, the organising committee contacted her again to rescind the invitation.
“They informed me that Adam was having a second thought about attending the forum after his PA (personal assistant) saw my name on the list.
“Then at 11.45pm, I received another call from the committee, where they apologised for having to exclude me from being a panellist and emcee at the forum.
“I was informed that the decision was made based on a request from Adam and Chiew’s side, who do not want me to be either a panellist, emcee, or even be seen at the event,” the activist claimed.
‘Panellists changing many times’
In response to this, Adam and Chiew both claimed this was untrue.
“It’s not true, I have never heard such a problem.
“In fact, from what I know, I have agreed to be a panellist much earlier. Only that the list of panellists had been changing many times, until the 11th hour, they could not confirm the panel.
“So I told them that since I am travelling from Malacca for this session, they need to confirm the panellists, if not, it would be hard for me to arrange my schedule,” Adam said.
Similarly, Chiew said it’s not true and he has no problem having a dialogue with any student. - Mkini
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