'Unis must clarify ban on events', group cites ministry promise

Summary

• Activists say a Higher Education Ministry representative promised to seek clarification about a purported ban on public discussions at universities.

• The group raises three separate violations of academic freedom and freedom of assembly at two local universities.

Activists protesting the alleged suppression of freedoms in institutions of higher learning said the Higher Education Ministry promised to refer their grouses to the respective universities.

Calling themselves Haram, taken from the Malay acronym for the Malaysian People’s Advocacy Assembly, the group gathered at the ministry in Putrajaya today.

Its president Brendon Gan spoke to reporters after they met a ministry representative.

“The ministry said our statement will be forwarded to the relevant parties, especially the Student Affairs Division at the involved universities, and they need to provide an explanation regarding the programmes that were blocked or cancelled,” he said.

The group pointed out there were at least three alleged attempts to disrupt planned events on issues such as stateless children and deaths in custody - twice by the International Islamic University Malaysia and once by Universiti Sains Malaysia.

Gan said their meeting with the ministry’s Corporate Communications chief Mohamad Hafizi Rosli also saw representatives from the NGO Suaram, who organised one of the cancelled events.

Meanwhile, Haram executive secretary Alyaah Hani Anuar said the group condemned the actions of those who violate academic freedom, especially in higher education institutions.

She said universities should serve as an open platform for healthy discussions and debates, not places of control, censorship, and intimidation.

“Such violations undermine the reputation of universities as platforms for intellectual freedom and critical thinking.

“Additionally, intimidation of student activists, like when I was summoned by the police for a recent pro-Palestinian protest, as well as the blocking of Fahmi Reza’s social media accounts, points to a systemic pattern of repressing freedom of expression in Malaysia.

“Programmes and initiatives that seek to highlight human rights issues at public universities are being denied approval for outdated and backward reasons,” she said.

Yesterday, Suaram reportedly expressed dismay after a public university in Penang rejected its bid to hold an exhibition about a custodial death victim after university authorities purportedly deemed it “sensitive” and “anti-government”.

Suaram said the university’s Student Development and Alumni Affairs Division (BHEPA) rejected their bid to host the exhibition despite initial approvals from lecturers and faculty members.

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