Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) has sacked the lecturer who made erroneous claims about Hinduism and Sikhism for the Islamic and Asian Civilisation Studies (TITAS) module, said Higher Education Minister Idris Jusoh.

The university made the decision to terminate the lecturer who was responsible for causing the controversy, he said.

He was informed by the university yesterday, Idris said in an interview with radio channel BFM in its Breakfast Grille programme this morning.

"We have to take stringent action against him," he said.

Idris, however, added that Titas is required in the university's module.

The former Terengganu menteri besar was responding to the host who asked whether Titas should be around as the lecturer took things into his own hands and inflamed the entire population.

"What happened was he went out of the way and did not use the curriculum provided by the ministry, that got to be fully understood. We are serious about it," said the minister.

"We have been telling the lecturers to be in line with the government policies."

UTM received brickbats from the Hindu and Sikh community since the slides bearing the university's logo went viral on social media.

Its vice-chancellor, Wahid Omar, had said the language used in the slides did not reflect the subject matter's true content, nor were they endorsed by the Higher Education Ministry.

Several police reports have also been lodged on this matter, with MIC treasurer-general S Vell Paari calling for the matter to be investigated under the Sedition Act.