I refer to the report Perwakilan pelajar USM didakwa disiasat polis cawangan khas .

Universities are now clearly without integrity and lack the guts to decide on their own. I wonder why Universiti Sains Malaysia's (USM) Student Affairs Department had to seek the approval of the Special Branch before forming the student body?

Where does it say in the Universities and University Colleges Act (UUCA) or even normal university regulations that university administrations are answerable to the Special Branch, the police or whatever body out there that works in the interest of the state?

Why did the list of winning candidates have to be submitted to the Special Branch in the first place? My letter is full of questions because I cannot fathom the need for the Special Branch's intervention in universities.

Of course, it is a known fact that the Special Branch has always had its agents lurking on university campuses. What is worse is when some of the students voluntarily offer their services as 'tali barut' (minor informants) in exchange for money and minor luxuries which appeal to students with empty pockets.

My allegations need substance, some might say. But once you have been studying in our public universities for some time, you will notice the existence of 'external forces' dictating how the students should do their politicking and the presence of some nicely-dressed people asking too many questions about your political preferences and ideology.

But why the control? Why the interference? As if university students could really do so much with UUCA around since 1974.

I recall USM vice-chancellor Dzulkifli Abdul Razak's statement during Suhakam's Human Rights Day celebration this year, which I attended half-heartedly.

He said that there was too much fear on campus. Students, he said were suffering from a 'fear syndrome' and were unable to voice out their opinions. Well, I am not surprised. We can all see why now, can't we?

Dzulkifli, and the rest of USM's Student Affairs Department, has allowed this fear to spread. They use threats in the mildest way possible by asking the students to vote only for administration-backed candidates or else their places in the residential college will be revoked.

They let Special Branch agents screen and spy on the students. Wouldn't all these actions instill fear amongst the campus community?

I pity the USM students for having to live under a modern-day version of 'Big Brother' where probing and interference by state apparatus are seen as perfectly normal.