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Malaysian Student Opposition Leader Released
KUALA LUMPUR, July 18 (IslamOnline) -
Malaysian police released Tuesday a student leader who had been held under the Internal Security Act (ISA) for nearly two weeks.
Student sources close to the student activist movement in Kuala Lumpur said his arrest was a move by the government
of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad to extract information over possible opposition inroads within university campuses around Malaysia.
It is the first time that students in Malaysia have been arrested under the infamous ISA, which allows for indefinite detention without trial.
The student, Mohamad Fuad Mohd Ikhwan, said he was "fine" but declined to comment any further on why he was released. He did not give any information on whether or not he was brutalized during his short spell under detention.
Mohamad Fuad, who is the president of Universiti Malaya Students' Representative Council, said he was released unconditionally at 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
Student sources close to local universities in Kuala Lumpur said they believe Ikhwan was arrested in order to get a better view of the main figures behind the reformasi (reform) movement within the universities.
The Malaysian government suspects that the opposition parties have made serious inroads within university campuses around Malaysia and that they are drawing considerable political support from the students.
The main concern for the regime is the waning support from the younger generations, who will be on the voters' list for the 2004 general elections.
Several lecturers and student leaders said the arrests under the ISA had further damaged the image of the government.
They also went on to say that the Malaysian premier made a terrible mistake in brandishing the ISA as a weapon and that he is again making a mistake in proposing changes in the education act.
"This will not bring the students to support the government, on the contrary, those students and lecturers who have been on the fence will join the reformasi movement," said a lecturer at the University Putra Malaysia (UPM).
Several sources said the universities in Kuala Lumpur have been turned into the next political battleground by the ruling coalition of the National Front (NF) and that the Home Ministry had placed an unknown number of special police branch members and political activists in the Puteri UMNO (Women Youth Wing) and as workers and lecturers in the Universities.
The aim, they added, was to gather information on the lecturers and students who promote pro-opposition activities within the campuses.
Prime Minister Mahathir, who said on Tuesday that Malay Muslim students were wasting the government's money and were bringing unnecessary politics into the university atmosphere, has announced that his government will amend the Universities and University Colleges Act.
The act will allow the government to impose an agreement on students and teachers that will give the government the right to expel those found to be politically active.
Mahathir said that students should stop wasting public funds and neglecting their studies, adding that the new agreement will ensure that they attend all lectures and finish any additional work required of them.
Deputy Education Minister Abdul Aziz Shamsuddin said Tuesday that the Universities and University Colleges Act is being reviewed because there are some students getting involved in activities that threaten national security.
He also said that a responsible government had to take immediate action to stop the students from participating in negative activities that were detrimental to themselves and the country.
"This Act is not inadequate, but certain sections need tightening so that the universities have more responsibility to control the situation because we want a peaceful and harmonious atmosphere," he told a media conference after launching the Universiti Teknologi Mara's (UiTM) historical narration.
Along with Ikhwan, Malaysian police also released six other student activists.
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