KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 28 — Datuk Seri Azizan Abdul Razak said today he is willing to be sacked by Pakatan Rakyat (PR) for defending Kolej Universiti Insaniah’s (KUIN) suspension of five students under the Universities and University Colleges Act (UUCA) in May last year.

The Kedah mentri besar was responding to criticisms by constitutional law expert Abdul Aziz Bari, who urged PR take action against the PAS leader for supporting the use of the UUCA.

“The responsibility is under the university administration, we have a rector, there are KUIN staff, not me.

“If Pakatan Rakyat wants to sack, sack then... you think it’s easy,” Azizan (picture) told The Malaysian Insider.

Aziz’s point of contention was that PR’s Buku Jingga policies were specifically for the abolition of the UUCA.

But Azizan responded today by saying that the “Buku Jingga was not the Al-Quran” that needed to be followed through all the time.

“There are some things you can carry out and some you cannot, you have to look at the situation,” said the Kedah MB.

He accused Aziz of being “blind to existing laws” and not behaving like a proper academic.

“How can he (Aziz) ask me to interfere in university administrative matters? Secondly it has been brought to court... so why the fuss,” said Azizan.

He said KUIN had been enforcing the UUCA for a long time and that it did not bring about any trouble.

“I am the product of the UUCA, no problem... KUIN is Kedah’s property, not the federal level. So be rational, be a gentleman,” he added.

The “KUIN Five” were hauled up before a disciplinary committee on May 25, 2011 for breaching the UUCA by participating in a demonstration, making speeches with loudspeakers and holding a press conference to protest the use of a religious teaching block to house a smart school.

Mohd Faiz Mohd Arshad was suspended for two semesters while the rest were barred for one semester and given warning letters.

Although the suspension was meted out nearly eight months ago with four of the five having already served their one-semester bans, the activists have continued to pursue the matter in court.

However, the Kuala Lumpur High Court postponed the January 18, 2011 hearing on the suit to challenge the suspension without giving a new date.

PAS has demanded Azizan explain the suspension of the five students during its central leadership meeting this coming February 12.