Four student activists were yesterday punished by the University Malaya (UM) disciplinary panel for participating in the ‘#TangkapMO1’ rally on Aug 27.
Anis Syafiqah, Mohamad Luqman Nul Haqim and Muhammad Luqman Hakim Fazli were suspended for a semester, fined RM400 each and given a stern warning.
Another student, Suhail Wan Azahar, was only fined RM400 and issued a stern warning.
The punishment meted out to the students was unjust, unfair and showed the university‘s lack of respect for academic freedom and right to peaceful assembly.
It is sad and obvious that UM has not learned any lesson from the mistakes of 2014 incidents that had made it an international laughing stock.
Yesterday’s UM’s decision will further cause a further dive in the university’s image in the global academic community.
In 2014, UM had banned Anwar Ibrahim who was an elected representative of the Malaysian Parliament from speaking in the university. It had also employed the laughable shut down and lockdown tactics.
The moves were unjustifiable and UM suffered a dive in its international image.
Yet it did not seem to care about its image when it meted out punishments against the four student activists who had expressed their concern about public issues.
The students were disciplined for allegedly acting in a manner detrimental and prejudicial to the interests and good reputation of the university, detrimental to public safety, and in violation of the university’s regulations for participating in the rally.
Can the UM explain and justify how the students’ actions were detrimental and prejudicial to the interests and good reputation of the university? How had they threatened public safety?
In fact, it was the UM’s punishments against the students that has inflicted damage to the university‘s reputation and image.
Student activism should be encouraged. The way a university responds to such activism shows the sort of university it is. UM’s disciplinary actions against the students are unable to make Malaysians proud of the university.
Student activism and many student led protests in other parts of the world for progressive causes have helped to make the world a better place.
It is time that UM should adopt new attitude and approach in treating student activism. UM should therefore revoke the punishment meted out on the students.