Ragging Origin and Growth
& Anti – Ragging Laws and Measures
Keywords – Ragging, Bullying, Students
Written By – Tanishka Ranjan
Ragging is a sort of an immoral activity which has widely spread its wings in educational institutions. It has given birth to enmity amongst students.
Ragging has become a menace, cause of fear and shock not only for freshers but for their guardians too. Several intellectual youth have become martyrs of ragging. Ragging can be considered as a heinous practice. It has taken the shape of serious human rights violations and thus has been declared a ‘criminal offence’.
Introduction
Ragging involves abuse, humiliation or harassment of new entrants or junior students by the senior ones. It often takes a malignant form where in the newcomers may be subjected to psychological or physical torture. It is similar to the American form, known as hazing, but is much more severe.
The Hon’ble Supreme Court of India has given a comprehensive meaning of ragging :
“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 indiscipline activities which cause or are likely to cause any 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”.
Origin
Several highly reputed educational institutions have a history of ragging. It started in its mild form in the eighth century AD during the Olympics. Later the armed forces of several countries and several student organisations in Europe and the USA started practising this ritual. During World War I ragging underwent a massive transformation.
The tradition of ragging in India was imported along with the English education. It became conspicuous after independence. As higher education became more and more accessible to different communities, ragging became a soft weapon to settle the animosity between students of different caste, communities, religion etc.
Different forms of ragging
Some of the popular forms of ragging are
- Dress Code Ragging : The freshmen are asked to dress in a specific dress code which makes the person uncomfortable for a particular period of time.
- Formal Introduction : This involves asking the freshmen to introduce themselves in order to make fun of them.
- Verbal Torture : It involves indulging in loose talks with freshers.
- Sexual Abuse : This is the severest form of ragging. The seniors are mainly interested in ‘juicy’ details such as the anatomical description of one’s body parts, his or her sexual interests etc.
- Playing The Fool : The freshmen may be asked to enact scenes from a particular movie or mimic a particular film star with a motive to insult them in front of others.
- Hostel Ragging : Outstation students who stay in the hostel are most vulnerable to ragging. They are asked to do all odd acts.
- Drug Abuse : The freshmen are forced to try drugs thereby driving them into addiction.
Possible reasons that initiates ragging
- Ragging Gives A Sense of Authority:A senior student nurtures a sense of authority which boosts his morale and puts him on a high.
- Ragging Can Be A Means Of Retaliation:A senior who has some previous history of ragging may like to get back by venting his frustrations on the freshmen.
- Satisfaction Of Sadistic Pleasures: A potential ragger sees ragging as a good opportunity to satiate his sadistic pleasures.
- Peer Pressure: Seeing most of their batchmates indulging in ragging, they fear being left out. So in order to avoid isolation, they too join the herd.
- Ragging Makes A Fashion Statement: Many senior students live under the misconception that ragging makes a style statement.
Consequences Of Ragging
- 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 de-moralizes the victim who joins college life with many hopes and expectations.
- Ragging simultaneously causes grave psychological stress and post-traumatic disorders to the victim.
- It may lead the victim to commit suicide.
Guidelines for educational institutions to prevent ragging
- Anti-ragging movements should be initiated by the institutions right from the time of advertisement for admissions. It must be clearly mentioned that ragging is banned and if anyone is found guilty will be punished appropriately.
- Undertakings to be taken from both the freshmen, seniors and parents that the person is aware that ragging is a punishable offence.
- Notices should be issued indicating place to approach for redressal in case of ragging.
- Management, principles and the teaching staff should interact with freshmen and take them in confidence by aspiring them of their rights as well as obligation to fight against ragging.
- At the commencement of the academic session, the institution should constitute a practorial committee.
- Ragging-prone zones should be identified and guarded carefully.
- The local community and the students in particular must be aware of the dehumanizing effect of ragging inherent in its perversity.
- Failure to prevent ragging to be constructed as an act of negligence in maintaining discipline in the institution on the part of the management.
- Migration Certificates issued by every institution should have an entry apart from that of general conduct and behaviour whether the student had participated in, and in particular, was punished for ragging.
Substantive laws prohibiting ragging
Presently, there are only four state legislations in India that prohibit ragging. These are:
- The Prohibition of Ragging Act, 1996. (Applicable in the State of Tamil Nadu)
- The Kerala Prohibition of Ragging Act, 1998.
- The Maharashtra Prohibition of Ragging Act, 1999.
- The Prohibition of Ragging in Educational Institutes Act, 2000 (Applicable in the State of West Bengal).
Conclusion
Indeed, ragging has become a dreadful affair in the educational institutions of higher learning. This issue can be dealt with only when we make society more sensitive towards each other and also empower students not to be victimized but raise their voice in the face of ragging in any form. It is the time that the student community awakens its 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. A policy of ‘zero tolerance’ on ragging is essential.
