The government should stop its on-going 'witch hunt' on dissident lecturers and students to avoid a numbing of intellectual freedom in universities, an opposition leader said today.

"If students and lecturers are not allowed to comment critically on what the government is doing and what is happening in society, universities will cease to be centres of study, research and reflections," said Keadilan vice-president Dr Chandra Muzaffar.

"If this witch hunt continues, the consequences for the nation could be disastrous," lamented Chandra.

The Keadilan leader was reacting to the recent expulsion of seven local undergraduates students for their involvement in an anti-Internal Security Act gathering in front of the National Mosque last June.

Malay language daily Utusan Malaysia also reported on Wednesday that a Universiti Tecknologi Mara (UiTM) lecturer had been dismissed and 47 academic staff faced disciplinary action for their alleged involvement in an anti-government movement.

"How can Malaysia hope to become a centre of knowledge and intellectual excellence in the region if the government and university authorities are hell bent on stifling critical thinking on campus?" asked Chandra, who was terminated from his academic post at the University of Malaya's Centre for Civilisational Dialogue in February 1999.

'Dumb mutes'

Chandra added that a university would not be able to live up to its function as a centre of learning if students and teachers are not afforded academic freedom.

"No university worth its name would be able to function if students and lecturers are muzzled and reduced to 'dumb mutes'.

"They will just be robots whose mechanical, stereotypical responses to social problems will undermine the well-being of the Malaysian nation in the long run,' Chandra added.

Currently the student movement is stifled by the Universities and University Colleges Act which restricts activists from political involvement.

Last July, police used the ISA, which allows detention without trial, to arrest two student leaders, Khairul Anuar Ahmad Zainuddin and Mohd Fuad Ikhwan.

To date no official reason has been given for their arrests.

Harsh measures

Chandra said the ISA arrests added to the public's confusion as to why such harsh measures were taken against the students.

"The public is in the dark as to the nature of the 'actual crime' committed by students who have been expelled or held under the ISA," he said.

In another development Penang deputy chief minister Hilmi Yahaya announced yesterday that Universiti Sains Malaysia will be requesting for the names of lecturers that allegedly incite students against the government.

Last week, former UTM student Wan Nor Hayati revealed the existence of an underground student movement which aimed at influencing students against the government.

This prompted the authorities to step up the drive against alleged anti-government elements in local universities.