Prof P Ramasamy was about to give one of his final lectures to his students. His last class - political economy - was last Thursday.

Nevertheless, he looked relaxed in his surprisingly uncluttered office on the fifth floor of the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia's Centre for History, Political Science and Strategic Studies.

"I've moved most of my books back to my house," he said.

Ramasamy, who has been with the university for 25 years, is ready to move out - and move on.

Clearly, it was painful for the political science professor to bid goodbye to the campus which he had lectured for more a quarter of century. Most painful are the students who he will leave behind in the midst of their studies.

He retired from the university in March this year when he celebrated his 56th birthday.

However, he received a monthly contract to continue lecturing and this was expected to last until May 2007, subject to approval by the university and the Department of Higher Education.

Last month, his contract was abruptly terminated, leaving many of his students in the lurch. No reasons were given by the university.

He had 12 PhD students under his charge, all of whom will now have to find another lecturer to supervise their research. But these lecturers may not have Ramasamy's expertise.

Legal action

In recent years, the professor has developed an international reputation as a specialist in the study of national liberation movements and has close links with the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka and the rebels in Indonesia's troubled Aceh province.

Not surprisingly, a number of his students are from Aceh.

In 2003, he was appointed to the Sri Lankan Tamil Tigers' Constitutional Affairs Committee to help draft a proposal for an interim administration in Sri Lanka's northeast, and was the only non-Sri Lankan in the group.

He also acted as an observer in the recent peace talks over Aceh in Helsinki ( photo, second right ), brokered by the Finland-based non-governmental organisation Crisis Management Initiative.

Ramasamy suspected that his termination was his involvement in the Aceh peace process, where he attended one of the earlier rounds of talks.

The talks resulted in the inking of a peace pace on Aug 15 between the Acehnese rebels, GAM (Free Aceh Movement) and the Indonesian government, ending three decades of bitter fighting which claimed about 16,000 lives.

While he is not appealing against the university decision, Ramasamy is not going to take his dismissal lying on his back.

He is consulting with his lawyers on whether to sue the university for his 'unjust' dismissal.

"I may take legal action. Not so much that I want to be reinstated but I just want to highlight the fact that what they did was unacceptable," he told malaysiakini.

Active politics

And don't expect Ramasamy to retire quietly.

He plans to join a political party. "I'd be involved in oppositional politics," he said. Already, a few parties have asked him to join their ranks.

For now, he is keeping mum on which party he will sign on.

"I think we need to make more noises in this country," he said on his decision to play a more active role in politics.

When asked whether it would be Parti Reformasi Insan Malaysia (Prim) - a splinter group of the opposition PKR - as he was already its president, Ramasamy burst into laughter.

"No, that's other Prof P Ramasamy. He stays in Sabah. He is a bio-chemist from Universiti Malaya and he became the president of Prim and he is now working as a professor in Universiti Sabah. I was never involved in Prim although I know the members of Prim."

Q&A: Shafie 'not fit to be a minister'