A three-member Indian delegation had a one-hour discussion with Jasmon. They handed over a memorandum asking that an Indian expert be appointed as head of the department.

'The vice-chancellor has agreed to consider a member of the existing staff to head the department if they can get together and agree among themselves.

'He was very frank and patient. He assured us that his intention was only to make it better and not to destroy the department,' Arumugam was quoted as saying.

Nearly two million Malaysian Indians constitute about 8 percent of the population of Malaysia. The bulk of Indian origin people in Malaysia are Tamils.