A special committee of police officers has been set up to look into underground activities in public universities since the Universities and University Colleges Act has not been effective in curbing them.

"This special committee is set up to monitor the influence of external factors and how far [the underground student movement] has been a threat to national security," said Home Affairs Ministry parliamentary secretary Abu Zahar Isnin during the question-and-answer session in Parliament today.

"Police involvement will not only prove useful in curbing these activities but also in raising public awareness of extremist groups who have broken the law," he justified, denying that police presence will impact negatively on staff and students' performance.

Abu Zahar was responding to a question by Ismail Noh (PAS-Pasir Mas) who asked the government's rationale in setting up such a committee.

Police state

Ismail queried if the university authorities have thoroughly investigated the matter before asking the police to come in, claiming that the public feels the police were not needed in the investigation.

He implied that direct police intrusion into campus life will prove unsettling to students and staff.

"Already people have the perception that this country is a police state."

He also contended that the UUCA has failed to deal with student activism.

In response, Abu Zahar denied that the 1974 UUCA was a failure.

He also refuted Ismail's claim that the public was not happy with the new set-up involving the police.

"Perhaps only a few are disagreeable. The university authorities have conducted sufficient investigation but since the UUCA is not effective, the government had to set up the investigation committee," he said.

"We did not want the police to intervene but when there are extremist groups we had no choice but to [set up this committee]," he added.