Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) has set-up a committee of inquiry to look into the scuffles involving the university's rival student camps which was exposed in a recent video recording.

In a statement issued yesterday, UPM vice-chancellor Prof Dr Nik Mustapha Abdullah ( right ) said the committee will also make recommendations pertaining to the incidents.

The committee was formed upon the directive of Higher Education Minister Mustapa Mohamed.

According to the vice-chancellor, the committee will be headed by the university's ethics course lecturer Prof Dr Abdul Rahman Aroff. The other members are lecturers Prof Dr Kamariah Abu Bakar, Dr Ti Shzee Yew, Dr Mohd Bakri Ishak and Dr S Vijayaletchumy.

Nik Mustapaha revealed that the committee held its first meeting on Saturday.

The committee's recommendations on how to prevent such incidents from recurring will be forwarded to the higher education minister, he added.

"UPM views this incident seriously. It has taken concrete measures to ensure that similar incidents do not happen. It calls on outsiders not to interfere in order to avoid any misunderstandings regarding the incident," said the vice-chancellor.

'University play-acting'

In a related development, Parliamentary Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang commented on what he termed as UPM's ' shake hands and make up farce ' last week.

"It was clear that on Friday, the UPM vice-chancellor and deputy vice-chancellors had no idea that there would be a committee of inquiry," he said in a statement.

Meanwhile, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said UPM should be renamed 'university play-acting' if it fails to apologise for staging the resolution to the fracas.

The opposition party expressed shock with the university's initial response to the incident, which it said appeared to be like a 'cover up'.

In two separate frays on July 10 and 11, dozens of 'pro-establishment' students backed by campus authorities manhandled fellow students perceived to be from the rival 'independent' camp.

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