India today expressed concern over the "negative and incorrect" picture conveyed about Hinduism and Sikhism after a leading Malaysian university published an educational module depicting Hindus in India as unclean following which the varsity has issued an apology.


"We are concerned at negative and incorrect picture being conveyed about Hinduism and Sikhism. Hinduism and Sikhism are two great religions which India has given birth to," the High Commission of India in Malaysia said in a statement today.

Slides of the module by the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) appeared online enraging the minority ethnic Indian community and some others in this Muslim majority country.

The High Commission statement noted that Malaysia's Minister of Health, Deputy Minister of Education and others 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 added. Among others, 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 founder Guru Nanak had a poor understanding of Islam and had combined it with his surrounding Hindu lifestyle in forming the early foundation of the Sikh faith, Malay Mail online said yesterday.

The slides led to condemnation by the Malaysian Indian Progressive Association (MIPAS), which called for a retraction and apology from the university. Muslim majority Malaysia's 28 million population include 60 per cent Malays who are all Muslims, 25 per cent ethnic Chinese mostly Christians and Buddhists, and eight per cent ethnic Indians, a majority of whom are Hindus.