In a show of force, 17 student organisations have banded together to form a coalition to rally other students behind the move to oust the Sedition Act. 
 
Appropriately calling themselves Mahasiswa Ganyang Akta Hasutan (Ganyang), the coalition is made up of students from 11 private and public universities nationwide. 
 
Ganyang, meaning ‘to wallop’ or ‘to crush’ in Bahasa Malaysia and Bahasa Indonesia, was Indonesian pPesident Soekarno's  anti-Malaysia battle cry during 1963-1966 Indonesia-Malaysia Confrontation. 
 
“Under the Sedition Act, almost anything said or published that is remotely contentious can be deemed seditious. It suppresses academic freedom.
 
“It also creates a climate of fear among Malaysians reminiscent of the worst days under the iron-fisted former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's regime,” its spokesperson Adrian Lim said at Ganyang’s launch at University Malaya yesterday.

 

Lim, a UM law student told Malaysiakini that Ganyang is meant to serve a platform to unite all tertiary students who are against the Act. 
 
“This coalition is specifically for students to encourage proper discourse of ideas and opinions without fear,” he said.
 
Marching with lawyers
 
Ganyang’s first task, he said, is to rally students to back the Malaysian Bar’s march against the draconion law on Oct 16, as student representatives where it will use a blue ribbon as its symbol. 
 
The student group will also launch the nationwide petition campaign soon, but have yet to come up with a date.
 
Meanwhile, Lim said that Ganyang’s founding members are extremely concerned with the   “selective prosecution” against those deemed critical of the government.
 
“This Act is being used to stifle and repress elected representatives, members of the academic field, civil society and even students,” he said, citing UM law professor Azmi Sharom.
 
Azmi was charged with sedition for remarks on the Perak constitutional crisis, in an article published by the Malay Mail Online.