Outrage over ‘insult’ to Hinduism, Sikhism in Malaysian varsity module

Thursday, 16/06/2016

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KUALA LUMPUR: The minority ethnic Indian community in Malaysia is outraged over the "negative and incorrect" picture conveyed about Hinduism and Sikhism after a leading university of the Southeast Asian country published an educational module depicting Hindus in India as unclean and Sikhism founder Guru Nanak Dev as having a "poor understanding".

The Indian high commission in Malaysia also raised concern over the slides of the module by the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) that have appeared online in this Muslim majority country.

"We are concerned at negative and incorrect picture being conveyed about Hinduism and Sikhism. Hinduism and Sikhism are two great religions that India has given birth to," the Indian high commission said in a statement on Wednesday.

Among other controversial slides, the module claimed that Islam had introduced civility to the lives of the Hindu community in India. Another slide aimed at teaching the origins of Sikhism claimed that Guru Nanak Dev had a poor understanding of Islam and had combined it with his surrounding Hindu lifestyle in forming the early foundation of the Sikh faith, a local newspaper stated on Tuesday. The slides led to condemnation by the Malaysian Indian Progressive Association (MIPAS), which called for a retraction and apology from the university. UNIVERSITY REGRETS 'LACK OF SENSITIVITY'

The high commission statement noted that Malaysia's minister of health and deputy minister of education had condemned this incident. "We also note the 'utmost regret and deep remorse' conveyed by UTM on this incident and their assurance that such incident will not recur," the statement said.

UTM had issued an apology on Tuesday evening over the derogatory material that was used in lectures. "On behalf of UTM, I would like to express our utmost regret and deep remorse for the lack of sensitivity on the part of our lecturers," said vicechancellor Dr Wahid Omar said in a statement. He said a thorough investigation was being conducted on the incident and due action would be taken as necessary.

Meanwhile, the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA), which is an important component of the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition, said those responsible for preparing the derogatory material should be charged for sedition. Muslim majority Malaysia's 28 million population include 60% Malays who are all Muslims, 25% ethnic Chinese, mostly Christians and Buddhists, and 8% ethnic Indians, a majority of whom are Hindus.