(Source: pexels.com)
Ragging in popular language means initiation ceremony. The history of ragging dates back to 7 A.D. In Greece, newly inducted students in the sports community were subjected to mild humiliations and teasing. Slowly, this tradition percolated to other streams like the military and finally to education. In India, ragging existed in the pre-independence era which was imported from the English education system. It was mostly in the army and public schools. Till the ’60s, it was in a milder form in many universities. Then, ragging started growing in the college and university system like anything. After independence, it was the time of reformation and liberalization. Students from all walks of life started coming to schools, colleges, and universities for education. For some people, their hegemony had been questioned in that new era. Some took ragging as a tool to uphold the age-old practice of repression. Lower caste students & minority students had been subjected to stringent ragging over time.
In India, there had been some gruesome mother cases
related to ragging such as Pon Navarasu case (1996), Aman Kachroo case (2009) , Ajmal
PM (2012), and Akash Agarwal (2014). The seniors had abused humiliated and beaten juniors inhumanely
while ragging in many colleges & institutions of higher educations. All this
nonsense continued in the name of ragging aka initiation ceremony. Most of the
time, alumni from these institutions had prided in this connection. In their
conversations, they often pulled out the stories of atrocities and heinous
crimes that had done in the name of ragging. It
grew with time. In 2007, Vishwa Jagriti Mission filed a PIL in the
Supreme Court to curb the menace of ragging. The supreme court had given a landmark
judgment against PIL by the University of Kerela vs. Council Principals, Colleges Kerala & Ors to
curb ragging.
Under laws in India, ragging is defined as:
(i) Any disorderly conduct by either by acts or words spoken, the effect of which is teasing, treating, or handling with rudeness any other student;
(ii) Any rowdy or undisciplined activity, which causes annoyance, hardship, or psychological harm;
(iii) Raise fear or apprehension thereof in the minds of junior
(iv) Asking the students to do any act or perform something, which such student will not do in the ordinary course, which has the effect of causing shame or embarrassment to adversely affect the physique or psyche of a junior student
Laws to tackle ragging:
Some states have their legislation regarding ragging. Those without legislation handle ragging as per central legislations. These are
- Indian Penal Code
- UGC Regulations On Curbing The Menace Of Ragging In Higher Educational Institutions, 2009
- Other institute specific regulations
For any ragging related offense, the institute has to lodge an FIR in the nearest Police station. The provisions under IPC which can be used are
IPC
· 294 – Obscene acts and songs
· 323 – punishment for voluntarily causing hurt
· 324 – voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapon or means
· 325 – punishment for voluntarily causing grievous hurt
· 326 – voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapon
· 339 – Wrongful Restraint
· 340 – Wrongful Confinement
· 341 – Punishment for Wrongful Restraint
· 342 – Punishment for Wrongful Confinement
· 506 – Punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder
UGC has also brought the UGC Regulations on Curbing the Menace of Ragging in Higher Educational Institutions, 2009. It has given certain directives such as
(1) Publishing ragging is banned: The institutes will set up notices declaring ragging free campus
(2) Brochures/Application Form/Enrollment Form: Institutes have to write all the guidelines related to ragging
(3) Affidavit of Student: On admission to the institute, a student has to give an affidavit mentioning nonparticipation in any kind of ragging related activity.
(4) Anti-Ragging Committee: Setting up of anti-ragging committee with the head of the institute as the chairman. The committee should have a diverse mix of members which handles ragging related cases.
(5) Anti-ragging squad: The Institute has to set up an anti-ragging squad to monitor ragging on the institute campus.
(6) Anti-Ragging Helpline: The institute has to set up notice boards mentioning anti-ragging helpline numbers for newly admitted students.
(Author: Dr. Madhurjya Saikia, Lecture Given at DUIET, Dibrugarh University for Newly Inducted Students 2020)
Reference:
(1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ragging
(2)https://www.indiatimes.com/news/world/5-cases-of-ragging-in-india-that-shocked-the-world-278321.html
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