My Article in Newspaper on Campus Menace

Glistening hopes can be seen in their twinkling eyes as they clear a step towards fulfilling their dream, their parents' dream, and their teachers' dream. Yes, results came out and they pass with flying colours. After months, sometimes years of hard work and slogging they manage to secure admission in their college, institute, of dream. They step into their new life with the hope of experiencing a new life, learning new things, making new friends, lots of fun filled activities, creativity and much more. Never do they ever expect their anticipations to be engulfed by fears, worse to become a nightmare.

The gruesome incident of Madhurjya’s Barutial’s death due to ragging has once again taken the student community by shock; and signaling towards the fact that we can definitely not cast a blind eye to this menace. It is unnerving to even imagine the extent to which his psyche may have been tormented that pushed him to take this extreme step of putting an end to his life. Such a waste of a talent!!

It is definitely a part of college life to interact with the seniors, know them, learn from them and sometimes take guidance from them. So an introduction session with the seniors is very obvious as well as necessary. But no fresher would appreciate, where what is supposed to be a positive interaction session turn into what is known as ragging.

Ideally, when new students take admission, the seniors are supposed to welcome them. But it is sad to see that in the name of welcoming new students to college, the senior students harass their junior counterparts by making them easy targets to vent out their own frustration, pent up emotions and sometimes even to satiate their own perverse sadistic pleasure. Thus, ragging, in actuality is a notorious practice which can have lots of adverse affects on the victims of ragging. Depending on the nature of ragging, a victim of ragging can be impacted in manifold ways. They may sustain grievous physical injuries; some might develop fear psychosis that may haunt them throughout their lives. In worst cases, it may happen that a student may quit their college education even before it begins. For any student who slogs day and night to secure admission in a prestigious college, ragging is his or her worst nightmare come true. It would not be an exaggeration to say that, today, ragging has taken the shape of a serious human rights violation with even the most respected and disciplined educational institutes falling prey to it.

In common parlance, ragging means playing practical jokes on somebody or teaching someone a lesson. According to the Chambers English Dictionary; Ragging is an outburst of organized horseplay, usually in defiance of authority, riotous festivity, especially of under-graduates in British Universities, associated with the raising of money for charity.

A more comprehensible definition has been given by The Hon’ble Supreme Court of India as;

"Ragging is any disorderly conduct, whether by words spoken or written, or by an act which has the effect of teasing, treating or handling with rudeness any student, indulging in rowdy or undisciplined activities which cause or are likely to cause annoyance, hardship or psychological

harm or to raise fear or apprehension thereof in a fresher or a junior student and which has the effect of causing or generating a sense of shame or embarrassment so as to adversely affect the psyche of a fresher or a junior student."

Ragging is actually a western concept, although it has become deeply rooted in the Indian educational set-up. Ragging is supposed to have its creation in certain European Universities, but gradually, the practice of ragging became popular throughout the world. However, with time, ragging assumed obnoxious and harmful connotations and was severely condemned. Today, almost all countries of the world have enacted stern laws that ban ragging and it has been completely eradicated in countries such as Canada, Japan and others. But sadly, India, which inherited ragging as a legacy from the British Raj, has not been able to free itself from the clutches of this inhuman practice. Without second thoughts, it can be said that the worst form of ragging is committed in India. In fact, according to a research conducted by CUR , India and Sri Lanka are the only two countries in the world where ragging exists.

From what was intended to provide good humour and harmless fun to students, ragging today has assumed torturous, vulgar and inhuman forms that defy all norms of decency and morality. Some of the most popular forms of ragging in colleges are Dress code ragging, where the freshmen are asked to dress in a specific dress code for a particular period of time. The dress code ragging may make the freshmen feel awkward and uncomfortable as it often brings them unnecessary attention from everybody. Another form of ragging is Verbal torture which involves indulging in loose talks. The freshmen may be asked to sing the lyrics of any vulgar song or use abusive language while talking to the seniors. The severest form of ragging taking place in colleges in sexual abuse. The seniors are mainly interested in ‘juicy’ details such as the anatomical description of one’s body parts, his or her sexual interests, etc. In many cases, the freshmen have been asked to strip before the seniors. Another worst form of ragging includes drug abuse, wherein the freshmen are forced to try drugs thereby driving them into addiction.

Ragging is not merely a socio-legal problem. It has a certain psychological basis too. Just as every crime has a motive, there are some factors that propel a ‘professional ragger’ to indulge in ragging. In this context it would be a good idea to examine some possible reasons that initiate ragging. Ragging gives a sense of authority. By having the fresher at his command, a senior student nurtures a sense of authority which boasts his morale and puts him on a high. Ragging can be a means of retaliation as well. A senior who has some previous history of ragging may like to get back by venting his frustrations on the fresher. A potential ragger also sees ragging as a good opportunity to satiate his sadistic pleasures all at the cost of a poor fresher’s imagination. Peer Pressure is one of the reason which triggers ragging. Sometimes seeing most of their batch mates indulging in ragging, they fear being left out and so, in order to avoid isolation, they too join the herd. Lastly, many senior students live under the misconception that ragging makes a style statement and thus will put them in the ‘influential crowd’ of their college.

Ragging can have grievous consequences on the student. An unpleasant incident of ragging may leave a permanent scar in the victim’s mind that may haunt him for years to come. The victim declines into a shell, forcing himself into ignominy and alienation from the rest of the world. It demoralizes the victim who joins college life with many hopes and expectations. Though incidents of physical assault and grievous injuries are not new, ragging also simultaneously causes grave psychological stress and trauma to the victim. Those students who choose to protest against ragging are very likely to face ostracism from their seniors in the future. Those who succumb to ragging may drop out thereby hampering their career prospects. In extreme cases, incidents of suicides and culpable homicide have also been reported, as we have seen in the case of Madhurjya.

Ragging not only has consequences on the victims but also on the victim’s family.  A student is an asset to their parents and the entire family. One can imagine the plight of a ragging victim’s family, especially his or her parents who see their child suffering in pain and stress. Besides incurring medical and other incidental expenses to rehabilitate their child, they also have to bear the trauma of seeing his or her prospective career coming to an end.

Those who indulge in ragging bring a bad name to their college thereby hampering its reputation and goodwill in society.

Ragging does not spare even its perpetrators. Those found guilty of ragging may be suspended, blacklisted and even permanently expelled from college. Thus we see that the practice of ragging does good to none. From those who are victims of ragging to those who commit or encourage it, ragging spares none.

Despite incidents of Ragging being reported from almost all states in India, only four states, namely, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Maharashtra and West Bengal, have enacted legislations to deal with it. As for other states and union territories in India, Ragging is banned but only through circulars and administrative orders.

Anti-ragging movements should be initiated by the institutions right from the time of advertisement for admissions. The application for admission or enrolment should have a printed undertaking to be filled up and signed by the applicant to the effect that he/she is aware of the institution’s approach towards ragging and the punishment to which he or she shall be liable if found guilty of ragging. A similar undertaking should also be obtained from the parent/guardian of the applicant.

The Management, the Principal, the Teaching Staff should interact with the freshmen and take them in confidence by apprising them of their right as well as obligation to fight against ragging and to generate confidence in their mind that any instance of ragging to which they are subjected or which comes in their knowledge should forthwith be brought to their knowledge and shall be promptly dealt with. It would be a good idea to identify and keep a special watch on all vulnerable locations in the college such as the canteen, the playground, etc. The local community and the students in particular must be aware of the dehumanizing effect of ragging inherent in its perversity. Posters, notice boards and signboards wherever necessary, may be used for the purpose. The hostels/accommodations where freshers are accommodated should be carefully guarded, if necessary post security personnel and placed in charge of a warden/superintendent who should himself/herself reside there. The entry of seniors and outsiders shall be prohibited before and after a specified hour of night except under the permission of the person in-charge.

Ragging is a social evil and it speaks volumes about the raggers and the institution where ragging takes place. Definitely it portrays an extremely negative image of the students indulging in ragging, the institute and the society in general. Thus, it is high time everyone in society, especially the student community awakens it conscience to this inhuman practice before more and more innocent students become victims of it and before more and more educational institutes are degraded by it.