Lecturers who recruit students for JI will be arrested

17/06/2010

By MAZWIN NIK ANIS

PUTRAJAYA: University lecturers will face police arrest if they are found to be recruiting members for the Jemaah Islamiah (JI) extreme group among varsity students, warns Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Khaled Nordin.

The minister said he would not tolerate extremism infiltrating institutes of higher learning as it has been proven that such activities did “more bad than good”.

He said his ministry and public universities would work closely with the Home Ministry and police to ward off Jemaah Islamiah elements from gaining support within campus grounds, adding a high-ranking meeting between police and university officials would be held next week.

“The meeting will outline the role which my ministry and universities can play to ensure the influence of JI does not spread in universities, be it among lecturers or students.

“While universities will be on the look out and will closely monitor lecturers and students’ activities within campus, we also depend on the police to play a key role in preventing the negative element from entering campuses,” he told reporters after opening a seminar on internationalisation and marketing of Malaysia’s higher education.

Khaled, however, said he had not been informed of any arrest of JI members who were lecturers or students of public universities, adding a collaborative effort between the ministry, universities and authorities was needed to tackle the issue effectively.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak on Wednesday had directed relevant authorities to increase surveillance to ensure JI was not revived and spread among university students.

Newspapers had reported that the police had detected attempts by JI to revive their struggle by recruiting youth, including university students.

It is believed the movement had recruited between 20 and 30 students, to date.

Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan had said the matter came to light after police detained and extradited 10 JI members in a series of operations since early this year.

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/6/17/nation/20100617141656&sec=nation

Four students fail to get Suhakam backing

17/06/2010

KUALA LUMPUR: The four Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) students, arrested during the Hulu Selangor by-election, have failed to get Suhakam’s support but they will continue to challenge the constitutionality of any disciplinary action against them in the court today.

On June 1, political science students Hilman Idham, Ismail Aminuddin, Azlin Shafina Adzha and Woon King Chai obtained an ex-parte injunction stopping the university from convening a disciplinary tribunal against them for allegedly contravening Section 15(5)(a) of the Universities and University Colleges Act (UCCA).

Today, they will apply for an inter-partes injunction before High Court (Appellate and Special Powers) Judge Justice Aziah Ali.

When asked at his first press conference as Suhakam chairman yesterday whether members had taken a position on the memorandum submitted to Suhakam on May 24, Tan Sri Hasmy Agam said it was “not an issue that falls within the scope and purview of Suhakam”.

On June 7, Suhakam secretary Hashimah Nik Jaafar had told The Starthat the investigation unit had looked into Solidariti Mahasiswa Malaysia’s memorandum and they were just waiting for the new commissioners to table the matter and decide the next course of action.

When asked how students could be informed voters if they were restricted by Section 15(5)(a), Hasmy said they did not dismiss all such issues per se but would hold discussions on how they could be best addressed in future.

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/6/17/nation/6486853&sec=nation

Monitoring varsities to prevent JI resurgence

17/06/2010

By SYED AZHAR

TUMPAT: The relevant authorities have been directed to increase surveillance to ensure Jemaah Islamiah (JI) will not be revived and that such extremism is prevented from spreading among university students, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said.

The Home Ministry is monitoring the situation closely and has many intelligence reports to rely on.

“Such an extremist mindset will definitely be a problem for the country and will eventually compromise national security.

“History has proven that such movements influence not only university students but also lecturers,” Najib said.

He was commenting on newspaper reports on Tuesday that the police had detected attempts by JI to revive their struggle by recruiting youths, including university students.

To date, they had recruited between 20 and 30 university students who were easily influenced after attending the ceramah held by this group.

Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan had said the matter came to light after police detained and extradited 10 JI members in a series of operations since early this year.

Najib said the Government would do its part to increase surveillance in institutions of higher learning because a lecturer was also previously found to be involved in terrorism.

Najib added that undergraduates could be influenced to commit violence which would eventually destroy their future when they subscribed to a militant doctrine and extremism.

“We will get all the necessary intelligence reports to work on this, and find out the extent of influence of such ideology in universities and take appropriate action,” he told reporters after a meet-the-people session at Wat Machimmaram, Kampung Jubakar here yesterday.

Among those present at the function, attended by more than 3,000 people of Thai descent, were Inter national Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamad, Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen, Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Dr Awang Adek Husin and Gua Musang MP Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah.

Earlier in his speech, Najib ann-ounced an allocation of RM200,000 to provide more Thai classes for locals and scholarships for excellent students of Thai descen t to be admitted to institutions of higher learning.

Separately, Musa told Bernama that the police were prepared to cooperate with the Higher Education Ministry to curb the influence of terrorism in campuses.

“This is a serious problem and we will propose several effective measures that must be given attention in order to tackle the problem,” he said.

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/6/17/nation/6489046&sec=nation

PSD does not use SMS to inform students of appeal outcome

17/06/2010

KUALA LUMPUR: The Public Service Department (PSD) has advised parents and students who received the outcome of their appeals for National Foreign Degree Programme scholarships through the short messaging service (SMS) to ignore them.

“PSD does not use SMS to inform students about their appeal results,” its Corporate Communication Unit head, Maizatusima Judi, said in a statement here Wednesday.

She urged students who had received the SMS to ignore them to avoid confusion and misunderstanding.

She said the PSD had received several complaints of students receiving their appeal results through this medium. – Bernama

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