Idris: University, not ministry decides on forums

SUBANG JAYA: Higher Education Minister Idris Jusoh said universities were free to decide on forums they wanted to organise, adding that the ministry did not “micromanage” the institutions.

Universities, he stressed, did not have to send him a letter to conduct a forum because they were given the autonomy to do so.

“They can decide what’s best. However, I advise them to do whatever they can to take into account the sentiments of the people,” Idris said, adding that universities were managed by vice-chancellors.

He was speaking to reporters after attending an education summit here today.

Idris was commenting on the controversy surrounding Islamic speaker and televangelist Zakir Naik, from India, who recently had his ban from speaking at a university in Malacca lifted.

He said the same ruling applied when universities were considering cancelling classes because of the hot weather.

“Reporters always ask me if universities should be closed. I always tell them that we have university professors who know more about the weather than ministers.”

Idris also pointed out that the earlier decision to call off Zakir’s lecture was made by the police and not the ministry. Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar banned the topic ““Similarities Between Hinduism and Islam” to respect religious sensitivities.

The ban was later lifted after the Universiti Teknikal Malaysia, in Malacca, agreed to change the topic to “Women’s Rights in Islam”.

Zakir made headlines after human rights NGO Hindraf demanded that the preacher be banned from speaking in Malaysia due to his allegedly extremist views.

This is not the first time Idris is citing autonomy on talks arranged at universities.
In March, the ministry denied any involvement in the cancellation of talks by debater Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahim at a couple of universities.

Idris had said back then that universities had the right to decide “who should come in and who should not come in”.

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