I agree with the sentiments expressed in the letter Students must move beyond the politically correct .

The 'protests' by our university students obviously must have had prior approval by the authorities. The writer asked whether the campus demonstrations last week against atrocities committed by Israelis violated certain provisions of the University and University Colleges Act as well as the Police Act.

I would regard the question to be, if not tongue- in-cheek, at least rhetorical. If the students were to protest against rocket attacks on innocent Israeli citizens, they would be violating all the said acts. Only the Lebanese and Palestinians are regarded as innocent.

Although I find the appeals to help the innocent Lebanese victims touching, I know that Malaysians are capable of shedding only politically correct tears.

We do not cry for the innocent victims in Darfur; we do not even cry for the Tutsis that were massacred by the Hutus; we cannot cry for the people of Aceh when they were brutalised by Indonesian soldiers (we are permitted to cry when they were devastated by the tsunami though); we cannot cry for the Kurdish people that were gassed by Saddam Hussein.

Before we cry, we must first consult the government whether it is permissible. Malaysians (not only university students) cannot occupy the moral high ground if their expressions of outrage need to be officially sanctioned by the government.

Incidentally, would the university authorities encourage or permit the students to organise a protest demonstration condemning the Indonesian government's failure to prevent the haze from blanketing our skies and polluting the very air we breathe year after year? I bet they won't. Any takers?