Firm action should be taken against university students who took part in a rally protesting against the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on Thursday.

Social Affairs and Culture Adviser to the Government Rais Yatim said the students should realise they were flouting the law which was passed in Parliament.

"They must also realise their duty is to study and fulfill their parents' hopes, not to play politics because politicking has its place," he said.

He said this after a programme, 'Planting for the Future' at the Universiti Islam Antarabangsa (UIA), which was launched by Lanskap Malaysia chairperson Jeanne Abdullah, who is also wife of former prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, in Kuala Lumpur today.  

Rais also regretted the action of some protesters who took along children, citing it as inappropriate and not done by societies in developed nations.

KJ: They even beat up journalists

Meanwhile, Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaludin has described the rally as a feeble attempt to provoke the government.  

Khairy, who is also Umno Youth head, said the organisers not only failed to achieve their objective but also caused hardship to the people who wanted a holiday on Labour Day.

"What has happened instead is that the people who participated in the rally fought among themselves and even beat journalists, when at one time, they fought for freedom of the press," he told reporters after launching the Besut-level Jambori Orang Muda (JOM) programme at the Stadium Mini Kampung Raja in Besut yesterday.

He said the government did not use the police to disperse the gathering but just to control traffic and ensure there was no damage to public property.

Khairy also urged that the government be firm in taking legal action against the organisers of the rally who clearly had caused problems to various parties.

- Bernama