Ragging

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Ragging is the name given to criminal activities which take place inside educational institutions like schools and colleges. Ragging is different from other crimes because the motive is solely to get perverse pleasure. Ragging is also different from other crimes as it is actively promoted by certain sections of the society.

The following criminal activities can be categorised under ragging (especially if they take place inside a school or college):

    • unlawful coercion
    • criminal intimidation
    • assault
    • battery
    • sexual abuse
    • rape
    • murder

Ragging is essentially a law and order problem and the existence of ragging in India proves the fact that it is easy to get away with crime in India.

Ragging is different from "hazing" in that it is forced on the victim. Whereas "hazing" is done with the consent of a person.

The phenomenon is particularly prevalent in army and police forces, in which new recruits are required to undergo a degree of physical abuse. This practice is to a large degree actively promoted by many military groups.

Contents

[edit] Legal and sociological aspects

Ragging has a long history, and has been highlighted in literature (e.g., in Britain, Tom Brown's Schooldays, or Boy by Roald Dahl, and in India, Chetan Bhagat's Five Point Someone). In recent years, it has been the focus of a number of legal actions. For example, the Supreme Court of India defined it in a 2001 judgement[1] as:

Any disorderly conduct whether by words spoken or written or by an act which the effect of teasing, treating or handling with rudeness any other student, Indulging in rowdy or indisciplined activities which causes or Is likely to cause annoyance, hardship or psychological harm or to raise fear or apprehension thereof in a fresher or a junior student or asking the students to do any act or perform something which such student will not do in the ordinary course and which has the effect of causing or generating a sense of shame or embarrassment so as to adversely affect the physique or psyche of a fresher or a junior student.

Ragging can be thought of in terms of the following broad categories. A single act may be a combination of more than one of the following types of aggression:

  • Verbal: Verbal ragging is defined as a non-consensual conversation between the senior and freshman, where the senior humiliates the freshman, forces him to answer personally/socially-unacceptable questions/topics, teases/harasses him/her, does an exhibition of his/her superiority leading to mental trauma, uneasiness, discomfort for the fresher.
  • Physical: Physical ragging is defined as a non-consensual act by a senior toward the junior with the goal of hitting, inflicting physical injury or compromising the dignity of the fresher. Also, the act of asking the fresher to do something which is not normal human physical disposition; could create physical injury, health problems or lose of dignity for the freshman are considered physical ragging. Possible examples for the former are: beating the fresher, touching the fresher with one's shoe/feet, hitting the fresher with objects, etc. The latter would comprise asking the fresher to slap him/herself, sit in a 'cuckoo' position, drink/eat something inedible, stand for long on one feet, sweep his/her room, etc.
  • Sexual: Sexual ragging is defined as a non-consensual act by a senior, that of asking the junior to do something which is damaging or compromises the sexual dignity of the junior; doing an act of sexual nature with the junior. This shall comprise of asking the junior to strip, have sex not conforming with his sexual orientation, masturbate in public, touch private parts, etc.

A report from 2007 by the Indian anti-ragging group Coalition to Uproot Ragging from Education analyzed 64 ragging complaints, and found that over 60% of these were related to physical ragging, and 20% were sexual in nature. Ragging is conducted during a fixed period in most institutions, which may range from one day to the whole year. Once this period is over, 'seniors' suddenly become friends: the beginning of this new relationship is often a "fresher's party", where in some traditions, the freshers may rag their seniors. Seniors then go out of their way to help the freshers they "ragged," almost becoming their guardians. This generalisation may not always be true. In any event, innumerable freshers under severe stress may then leave the system , or may be suffering from serious psychological trauma, which may continue to take its toll through post-traumatic stress disorders. Occasionally, there may be physical injury, and some may even commit suicide.

[edit] Ragging in India

With the increasing privatization of higher education in India, academic institutions in India have been experiencing increasing ragging related excesses. A report from 2007 highlights 42 instances of physical injury, and reports on ten deaths purportedly the result of ragging:[2]

Ragging has reportedly caused at least 30-31 deaths in the last 7 years:[3] , [all of which] are not those of freshers. C. Lalitha, the mother of Mukesh, ended her life due to the controversy surrounding the sexual abuse of her son during ragging (Andhra Pradesh, Sept 2006). Three of the ragging deaths were those of seniors: two seniors were killed by a first-year student when he was being ragged (Vidyanagar, MP, Aug 2006); one senior ended his life when he was punished for ragging. The other seven deaths were those of freshman, six who committed suicide, and one due to the result of brutal ragging (equivalent to murder).

In the 2007 session, 7 ragging deaths have been reported till November.

In addition, a number of freshers were severely traumatized to the extent that they were admitted to mental institutions.

Ragging in India commonly is involves serious abuses and clear violations of human rights. Often media reports and others unearth that it goes on, in many institutions, in the infamous Abu Ghraib style [4] and on innocent victims. However, in many colleges, like IIT, Bombay and IIIT Hyderabad, ragging has been strictly banned. But how far the ban is effective appears clear on the campuses, hostels and in the media.

[edit] Reasons For Existence of Ragging in India

Ragging is a trademark feature of the Indian Education System and has recently assumed such pandemic proportions that it has become rather an embarrassment for the Indian Establishment.

The following are the major reasons for India's failure in controlling ragging:

    • India has a shabby law and order system. This problem is further complicated by police corruption and judicial delays. In many ragging cases the police refuse to file an FIR. Court cases in India take an average time of ten years, which is why, it is not a surprise that many witnesses die during the course of trial.
    • Donation Colleges : There are colleges in India which ignore meritorious students and instead sell their seats in auction style to criminal students from wealthy families. An example is Rashtreeya Vidyalaya College of Engineering and CMRIT of Bangalore .


[edit] Legislation

In 1997, the state of Tamil Nadu first passed laws related to ragging Subsequently, a major boost to anti-ragging efforts was given by a landmark judgement of the Supreme Court of India in May 2001,[1] in response to a Public Interest Litigation filed by the Vishwa Jagriti Mission.

The Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD), following a directive by the Supreme court, appointed a seven member panel headed by ex-CBI director Dr. R. K. Raghavan to recommend anti-ragging measures. The Raghavan Committee report,[5] submitted to the court in May 2007, includes a proposal to include ragging as a special section under the Indian Penal Code. The Supreme Court of India interim order[6] (based on the recommendations) dated May 16, 2007 makes it obligatory for academic institutions to file official First Information Reports with the police in any instance of a complaint of ragging. This would ensure that all cases would be formally investigated under criminal justice system, and not by the academic institutions own ad-hoc bodies.

The Indian Supreme Court has taken a strong stand to prevent ragging. In 2006, the court directed the H.R.D. Ministry of the Govt. of India to form a panel which will suggest guidelines to control ragging.[7]

The panel, headed by the former director of C.B.I. Dr. R.K.Raghavan, met victims, guardians and others across the country. The Raghavan committee has placed its recommendation to the Honbl. Supreme Court, which has given its order on the issue. [6] [8]

[edit] Anti-ragging movement

With the situation of ragging worsening yearly, youths have started volunteering in anti-ragging movements. Several voluntary organizations have emerged, who conduct drives for public awareness and arrange for support to victims. No Ragging Foundation.[9][10] ( NRF ) is working on these issues and gaining rapid popularity. While CURE and Stopragging are running anti ragging websites. No Ragging Foundation also has Victim Support facilities at some places, and trying to expand it rapidly.

The Indian media has been playing a crucial role by exposing ragging incidents and the indifference of many concerned institutions towards curbing the act. The Honbl. Supreme Court of India has directed, in its interim judgment, that that action may be taken even against negligent institutions.[6]

[edit] Other uses of the word

Uses of the word ragging by "chavs" in British society may refer to a bout of unrestrained violence, a term assosciated with the trend of happy slapping. Another meaning popularized by "chavs" and often mocked by the middle classes is a connotation for rough sexual intercourse. In this context, however, it is considered to be highly taboo.

[edit] Human rights and ragging

Ragging in India's educational system is widespread, yet ragging is far from being recognized as an issue under human rights by Indian government and Human Rights fraternity. This article attempts to establish "ragging" as an issue of "Human rights in Education" with the help of authoritative reports from the United Nations, and calls upon human rights fraternities to address the issue of ragging from a human rights perspective.

Ragging, a colonial legacy, is widespread in India's education. Various State Legislatures in India have been passing anti-ragging legislations, yet the issue is far from being resolved. Indian legal fraternity has yet to approach the problem of ragging from a perspective other than that of "crime." In the absence of any serious research to that effect, ragging is hardly recognized as an issue under human heights; human rights fraternities in India do not seem to bother about "ragging."

Ragging, though widely believed to be a major factor for campus violence and suicides in educational institutions in India, has yet to be recognized as traditional and systematic human rights abuse in education, and such human right violations in education have not been given the proper attention in India that they deserve. However, within the United Nations, ragging has been considered as an issue of human rights in education.

Katarina Tomaševski, the Special Rapporteur with Commission on Human Rights, Economic and Social Council, United Nations, in her Annual Report in 2001, advocates a 4-A scheme, whereby governmental human rights obligations to make education available, accessible, acceptable, and adaptable have been recognized. The Commission on Human Rights had asked the Special Rapporteur to focus on overcoming obstacles and difficulties in the realization of the right to worldwide education and, in keeping this direction in view, the Special Rapportuer made specific mention of "Ragging” in Chapter V, “STREAMLINING THE HUMAN RIGHTS FRAMEWORK FOR EDUCATION.”

"75… The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka decided in April 1998 on the constitutionality of a law that aimed to outlaw and suppress inter alia, verbal abuse (recognized as ragging, bullying, or harassment) within educational institutions. The victimization of students, especially newcomers, through verbal abuse should be outlawed, the Court affirmed, adding that "ragging has far too long been cruel, inhuman and degrading. Our society has been unable to deal with the root causes of ragging, and the anxieties, fears and frustrations of youth on which ragging has fed and flourished."

Appreciating domestic courts' increasing recognition of human rights in education, the Special Rapportuer expressed her satisfaction about the entry of human rights in education law. The report's recommendation section says:

“81. the international and domestic human rights law protecting the right to education and guaranteeing human rights in education should be used as a corrective for all education strategies.“The Special Rapporteur recommends to all international actors involved in promoting education to review their approach using human rights as the yardstick.”

Making a particular reference to India, the report says:

“24…While fully aware of the allocations of responsibility within education between central and State governments, the special rapportuer emphasized the responsibility of the State in ensuring the full implementation of international human rights law binding upon it...”

This mean that State needs to take up the task of making education acceptable to all and elimination of ragging should be construed to be a necessary step in this direction.

The Special Rapportuer's report calls for:

  1. Mainstreaming of human rights in educational strategies
  2. The full mobilization of the existing human rights standards for education in order to enable the human rights community to provide a timely contribution to developments which were, until recently, deemed to lie beyond the reach of human rights safeguards.


[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Supreme Court of India Judgement 2001
  2. ^ Harsh Agarwal et al.. "Ragging in India: Incidents, Social Perceptions and Psychological Perspectives", Coalition to Uproot Ragging from Education, May 16, 2007. 
  3. ^ "No to Ragging...", No Ragging Foundation, October, 2007. 
  4. ^ "The Background Story", No Ragging Foundation, October, 2007. 
  5. ^ "Raghavan Committee Recommendation Report", Human Resource Development Ministry, Government of India. 
  6. ^ a b c "Honbl. Supreme Court interim order on Ragging", Supreme Court. 
  7. ^ Legal Correspondent. "Court: form panel to look into ragging", The Hindu, November 7, 2006. 
  8. ^ CNN-IBN. "Register FIR for ragging, SC rules", CNN-IBN, 16 May, 2007. 
  9. ^ http://www.indymedia.org/pt/2007/04/884059.shtml
  10. ^ A STAFF REPORTER. "Taut rein on ragging- CAMPAIGN AT COUNSELLING SESSION", The Telegraph, July 02, 2007. 

[edit] Organizations

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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