UiTM may be in breach of Article 153, says rights group urging Putrajaya to uphold constitution

Rights group Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) has reminded Putrajaya of its responsibility to uphold the constitution on the issue of maintaining race exclusivity in higher education after a group of academics backed UiTM's refusal to temporarily admit non-Bumiputera students to its postgraduate programme in cardiothoracic surgery.

"It is the duty and legal obligation of the federal government to uphold the constitution, and not act in direct contravention of it. UiTM, as a public institution funded by taxpayers, cannot remain exclusively only for Bumiputeras," said LFL director Zaid Malek.

He described the stance of the Public University Vice-Chancellors and Rectors Committee as "disturbing", adding that they were ignoring both the constitution and the needs of the healthcare system by perpetuating "a regressive and false narrative".

"It is also appalling to see senior academics publicly supporting the continuation of single-race universities or colleges in modern Malaysia," Zaid said.

Yesterday, the Public University Vice-Chancellors and Rectors Committee condemned those who accused UiTM's admissions policy of apartheid, saying they had no idea about Article 153 of the constitution.

The group was responding to a column by pro-Pakatan Harapan portal Malaysiakini, which labelled UiTM as Malaysia's "apartheid academy".

The article sparked police reports and calls for the author to be investigated.

The debate over the admission of non-Malays to UiTM is part of a larger controversy over a proposal to temporarily allow non-Bumiputeras to enrol in the postgraduate cardiothoracic surgery programme.

Zaid, who is himself an alumnus of UiTM, said the constitution has been "repeatedly and wrongly cited" to defend the university's one-race policy.

"There is absolutely nothing in Article 153 of the constitution that prevents or prohibits the admission of non-Bumiputeras to any public institution, which would include UiTM.

"Article 153 prescribes that a reasonable proportion of quota for educational purposes can be assigned by the King, who is bound by the advice of the Cabinet on the matter," he added.

Zaid added that UiTM itself may have violated Article 153.

"The racial exclusivity of UiTM is a clear violation of the determination of ‘reasonable proportion’ provided under Article 153 and is entirely unlawful.

"In short, Article 153 does not permit setting up single-race universities such as UiTM," he said.

He cited Article 12 of the constitution, which guarantees the fundamental right to education "free from discrimination on grounds of religion, race, descent or place of birth".

"Therefore, the government must immediately take the necessary steps to ensure that UiTM’s admission policy is in line with Articles 12 and 153 of the Constitution," he said.

"Any form of racial exclusivity in admissions is in violation of these two articles of the constitution."