Exco DENIES teacher told non-Muslim pupils to ‘DRINK OWN URINE’

KUALA LUMPUR - Kedah’s state executive councillor in charge of education denied today an accusation against a primary school teacher who allegedly suggested to non-Muslim pupils to drink their own urine to quench their thirst.

Datuk Tajul Urus Mat Zain, who is also assemblyman for Tanjong Dawai where the school is located, claimed that the teacher did not utter the words alleged but did not elaborate, only saying he will be holding a news conference on the matter later.

“It's not true, the teacher did not say that,” he told Malay Mail Online over the phone.

A letter circulating online and addressed to the Kedah state education director had alleged that a senior teacher at a Sungai Petani primary school had asked non-Muslim students to drink water in the school toilets during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan; and if they do not have water, “they can drink from the tap or their own urine”.

The letter, purportedly from an unnamed group of non-Muslim students, claimed the teacher had uttered the words during the school’s assembly yesterday.

The Education Ministry has also directed its Kedah Education Department to investigate the incident, its deputy minister P. Kamalanathan said.

While he said the ministry was waiting for the results of the probe, he said the federal body had not come out with any such policy against non-Muslim students.

"However, at a policy level the allegations if true are definitely not the policy of the Ministry.

"Also if found true those responsible will be dealt with seriously for breaching the ministry's policy," he said in a Facebook post on his page. - Malay Mail