Question

Q6. You have come across many of ou have come across many incidents of ragging in educational institutions. Express your ideas to curb this menac .

Answer 1

Answer:

Guilty of culpable homicide not amounting to murder! Last year, a fast track court in Dharamshala sentenced four medical students to four years of rigorous imprisonment for violently ragging, assaulting and torturing 19-year old fresher Aman Kachroo to the extent that he succumbed to the injuries. This judgement being our country’s second recorded ragging conviction, certainly sent a stern message to colleges and student community across the country. But, the recent disclosure of brutalities in the name of disciplining juniors by senior students of the prestigious Sainik School at Jhumri Tilaiya in Koderma District of Jharkhand, has once again proved that the jubilation over one isolated victory against the menace of ragging should not lead to complacency. It should also be well recognised that ragging is a multi-faceted problem which cannot be solved only with the help of law. A much larger role in the eradication of ragging has to be played by the student community, university, college and school administrations as well as parents.

‘Ragging’ is a term which has manifold connotations. Its scope ranges from mild, jovial senior-junior interaction and ‘ice-breaking’ sessions to severe traumatic cases of emotional harassment, financial exploitation, verbal, physical and sexual abuse. Because of this extended implicit meaning of ragging, it becomes extremely difficult to ‘tag’ or ‘mark’ the entire series of acts which the term ‘ragging’ encompasses as offending, derogatory or criminal acts. The problem gets intensified when first year students fail to see the darker side of this customary practice or when they accept it as a necessary evil, as the only way of adapting themselves to the new environment. Being a part of student activism in Delhi University and several initiatives against ragging for many years, I have come to believe that deterrent measures like installation of CCTV cameras and deputing police officials in and around college/university campus, definitely helps in keeping vigilance but are incompetent as far as completely uprooting this malpractice is concerned. Since ragging is a complex issue having diverse psychological angles, it becomes extremely important to tackle this problem through different sensitisation and counselling programmes and techniques.

To put forth my first point, I would bring in the controversial ragging scene from the film ‘3 Idiots’. I am sure, everyone remembers ‘Rancho’ the ‘late comer fresher’, who, instead of following suit and getting ragged by the seniors in his hostel, runs and locks himself in his allotted room. The senior, who was out to rag him, shouts out his threat that if Rancho would not open the door before he counts ten, he would urinate on his doorstep. Now, Rancho is stuck. But, he does not give up. Almost immediately, he picks up certain articles lying around and makes an instrument, connects it to electricity and slips it outside his door. After the countdown, as soon as the senior starts urinating… Lo and Behold…he gets electrocuted. Of course, this ragging scene is exemplary but in a different sense. It teaches a lesson not just to the cruel seniors, but to all the rest of the juniors as well, who silently succumb to the dictates of such seniors. This scene was criticised for being insensitive to the gravity of this menace. Using the theme of ragging to make the audience laugh, it has been argued, does nothing else but strengthens the justification and validation of the concept of ragging.