Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) today said no action would be taken against a group of students who were involved in a scuffle with a rival group during the varsity's orientation week last month.

UPM's vice-chancellor Prof Dr Nik Mustapha R Abdullah ( photo ), at a press conference, said the committee set up to look into the incident would not take disciplinary action against the 11 students who jeered, manhandled and intimidated another group of students.

"There will only be letters issued to the students to educate them. No punishment will be involved as we want to educate them, not punish them," he said.

In two separate frays on July 17, dozens of the 'pro-establishment' students - who are backed by campus authorities - had manhandled fellow students perceived to be from the rival 'independent' camp.

On both occasions, the 'independent camp' students from UPM's Student Progressive Front (SPF) were setting up a 'help counter' at the canteen to assist newly-enrolled students when they were stopped by pro-establishment students who pushed, heckled and scolded them. See video .

Several quarters have lambasted UPM for allowing a 'thug culture' to pervade its campus and the use of intimidation tactics to rein in students who chose not to join its pro-establishment student representative council.

UPM, on July 24, then set up a committee to investigate the incident and furnish a report.

Direct denial

Nik Mustapha said that after the three weeks investigation, the committee found that both SPF and UPM's student representative council members were responsible for the fracas and for flouting university rules and regulations.

He said the incident was 'localised' involving only a certain group of students and was not sparked by racial issues. There were also no injuries reported, he added.

"I will see them and advise them not to repeat such incidents again and to obey the rules and regulations set by the university which aligned with the University and University Colleges Act," he said.

To a question as to whether the UPM student representative council leader Abdul Manaf Ariffin - who was involved in the scuffle - would be allowed to continue in his position, Nik Mustapha said: "His term is finishing".

He said the scuffle incident was not related to campus politics nor to the campus elections that are scheduled to be held next month.

In a direct denial of recorded evidence, the vice-chancellor further said the fracas did not involve any violence and that UPM's student representative council leader 'was only threatening' SPF members due to the latter's refusal to leave the canteen.

"They (SPF) opened their counter at the canteen without the university's permission and this aroused dissatisfaction among other students and this caused the incident to happen," he said.

Report a secret

Asked to explain portion of the video recording which showed pro-campus authority students shouting and heckling SPF students, Nik Mustapha said they 'were merely singing and cheering, and not shouting'.

"They were singing the song of their hostel, not shouting," he said.

To another question about a press photographer whose camera was damaged while recording the scuffle, the vice-chancellor claimed the reporter concerned, from the Chinese vernacular news website Merdeka Review , had confessed that the damage occurred due to her own carelessness.

Nik Mustapha said the committee's investigations were conducted in 'a transparent and fair manner' and he trusted the integrity of the investigation body.

He, however, refused to reveal the contents of the report.

"The report is only for the consumption of the university and ministry, no other parties will have access to it," he said.

Present at the press conference were UPM board chairperson Dr Zainul Arif, deputy vice-chancellor of student affairs and alumni Prof Madya Azali Mohd and deputy vice-chancellor of research and innovation Prof Abu Bakar Salleh.

In immediate reaction, two SPF students who were on the receiving end during the scuffle, said the vice-chancellor's explanation was a whitewash and they were disappointed no action would be taken against the rival mob.

'What then is shouting?'

UPM student and Merdeka Review trainee reporter, Chew Siew Foong also flatly denied that she had told UPM authorities that it was her own carelessness which caused her camera to be damaged during the scuffle.

"My hand was holding the camera and a student pulled my hand from behind. I then fell and my camera broke," she said when contacted by malaysiakini . "That was exactly what I told them," Chew said.

As to the vice-chancellor's claim that the mob was merely singing and not heckling them, Chew said the video recording clearly showed otherwise. "If that is not shouting, then what is?" she asked.

Another victim, SPF coordinator Simon Ooi ( photo ), said he disagreed with UPM's version of the incident and the claim that there were no injuries involved.

He said if the committee's investigation had truly carried out in a fair and transparent manner as claimed by Nik Mustapha, then the university authorities should be willing the reveal the contents of their report.

Both Chew and Ooi said UPM should not whitewash the incident as it was serious enough to warrant stern action.

Attempts to contact UPM student representative council leader Abdul Manaf Ariffin failed.