Sunday, March 18, 2007
Ban ragging completely
Bhopal Today Team
Bhopal, Mar 15: The issue of ragging shot up again after Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology (MANIT) expelled 8 students, accused of ragging their juniors. Though almost everyone criticises it; still the cruel practice exists in the campuses of educational institutes. Bhopal Today talked to the students and teachers to know their views about this ugly practice.
Pravlin Singh, junior student: Thrashing and slapping juniors in the name of ragging is completely wrong. Actually the tradition of introduction badly turned out to be ragging and the reason behind is lack of proper introduction between the juniors and the seniors that leads to such circumstances. We should try to create an atmosphere in the campus, which does not have junior-senior demarcation and both behave like friends and colleagues.
Sumit Irani, junior student: Our seniors' behaviour should be upright so we can hold them as our ideals. The seniors should help the juniors and make them feel comfortable in the campus. Thrashing is totally wrong.
Gaurav, junior student: I do not know much about that incident but it was not good. Instead of physical and mental torture of juniors friendly atmosphere should be created in campus. If a little bit of fun is there during introduction then there is nothing wrong in it.
Ravinder Tanwar, M Tech student: In a healthy atmosphere this is not a bad thing. It removes hesitation and childishness of the juniors. They become bold and broadminded. By ragging, the seniors want to introduce the juniors with realities of the life.
Agnivesh, M Tech student: That was not a case of ragging. It was a simply a meeting to plan fresher party. The seniors know it very well that if they were caught ragging then it would affect their career. Physical torture in the name of ragging is wrong and I am against it.
Dr OP Jain, Principal MVM College: Ragging is a distorted form of a healthy custom and it cannot be termed right. We can take it as a psychological problem. What happened yesterday was shameful.
HS Raza, Professor Chemistry: Introduction can be at zero percent tolerance level but to torture in the name of ragging cannot never be justified.
Dr Shirish Joshi, Professor Physics: Ragging is a crime in the eyes of the Government and the Supreme Court. It should be banned completely. There is need to give the seniors a proper direction and they should made to understand that juniors are like their younger brothers. Expulsion is not the correct thing to do, as it would destroy their careers.
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OPEN RAGGING MELA AT MANIT, BHOPAL
First year students of MANIT, Bhopal and SPA Bhopal are to be ragged on a full day ragging festival.
1.Each first year student is forced to pay Rs 4000 to fund the ragging festival
2.Meeting for planning the details, extorting the students to pay Rs 4000, not bothering about their financial status and most of them belong to poor OBC, SC and ST communities from across India. This is a huge amount for them to spare for such unwanted ragging festivals.
3.The meetings to extort the money are held openly in the campus class rooms and labs opening and authorities turn blind eyes.
4.200+ students have to pay Rs 8 lakh plus for meeting the party expenses of seniors belonging to 2nd to Final year and their friends who are not students of MANIT from local city
5.First year students will be assembled on the ragging day, escorted to a isolated place away from MANIT Campus and will be ragged full day. This is a clear proof that authorities are actively abetting this crime.
6.Repeated complaints by students has resulted in no action from the authorities.
Supreme Court of India has banned ragging and termed it as criminal offence and human rights violation. Here it is going to be staged under full glare of MANIT authorities and students totalling about 1000 plus will be gathering in a single place to indulge in this henious and inhuman crime. Nobody in Bhopal will come to the rescue to the poor first year students. Both boys and girls will be ragged for a full day and they will be physically abused by beating, asked to strip, roll on the floors etc and mentally tortured by abuses. Many of the senior students are proud of this tradition of MANIT and are not letting any student out of this. Any fresher not paying the money and abstaining on that day from ragging will be severely punished in the coming years till he passes out of the college.
We, the first year boys and girls wonder whether we have come to a National Institute of Technology or to any remote jungle ruled by tribals. Even tribals will have some culture. Why SPA students should get ragged by MANIT Students and why should they fund the event.
The venue is a closely held secret. But the date will be 4th March 2009. We wonder how the seniors can organise such a massive crime camp in public glare. The MANIT authorities, The human rights watch dogs, the Police, the HRD ministry, the MP Government, The CBI, The MEDIA, The Supreme and High Courts, The Local Collector etc. are not acting then who will put a stop to this.
We are living in a constant fear, and many of the boys and girls are already suffering due to this fear and have become ill. Some of the freshers especially girls may decide to end their lives either before the ragging day or during that day. For most of us who have come from decent families and rural areas the magnitude of this program and its arrangements being opening discussed and organised gives us a fright and our parents are worried and they have been told by us that there is no other option than to pay the amount of Rs 4000 and submit to this cruelty.
We the freshers of MANIT, and SPA, Bhopal hereby appeal to all Indians, or humans to bail us out.
Is there anybody who can put an end to this menace in MANIT, Bhopal. MANIT authorities are busy fight among themselves. When quizzed about why you need so much money for ragging us, the seniors told us – it will be spent on booze, drugs, smokes, food on that day and to entertain their rowdy friends who are not Students of this institutions and to top it all to purchase gifts for the college authorities.
We are putting the responsibility on the society as a whole as all known government agencies cannot help us and save us from this publicly held ragging festival. Who will be responsible for the torture we are undergoing and who will be accountable if some of us decide to end our lives.
Many of us got the cash ready and paid up telling lies to our parents that this money is needed to buy books etc. We are also helping other poor students by lending cash to them as they full aware that they cannot get this much money from their poor parents. MANIT Campus is a shame on progressing INDIA and it is HELL for all freshers. In future please boycott this college and AIEEE should not admit students to this college. SPA should move out of this place and save its wards.
OPEN RAGGING MELA AT MANIT, BHOPAL
First year students of MANIT, Bhopal and SPA Bhopal are to be ragged on a full day ragging festival.
1.Each first year student is forced to pay Rs 4000 to fund the ragging festival
2.Meeting for planning the details, extorting the students to pay Rs 4000, not bothering about their financial status and most of them belong to poor OBC, SC and ST communities from across India. This is a huge amount for them to spare for such unwanted ragging festivals.
3.The meetings to extort the money are held openly in the campus class rooms and labs opening and authorities turn blind eyes.
4.200+ students have to pay Rs 8 lakh plus for meeting the party expenses of seniors belonging to 2nd to Final year and their friends who are not students of MANIT from local city
5.First year students will be assembled on the ragging day, escorted to a isolated place away from MANIT Campus and will be ragged full day. This is a clear proof that authorities are actively abetting this crime.
6.Repeated complaints by students has resulted in no action from the authorities.
Supreme Court of India has banned ragging and termed it as criminal offence and human rights violation. Here it is going to be staged under full glare of MANIT authorities and students totalling about 1000 plus will be gathering in a single place to indulge in this henious and inhuman crime. Nobody in Bhopal will come to the rescue to the poor first year students. Both boys and girls will be ragged for a full day and they will be physically abused by beating, asked to strip, roll on the floors etc and mentally tortured by abuses. Many of the senior students are proud of this tradition of MANIT and are not letting any student out of this. Any fresher not paying the money and abstaining on that day from ragging will be severely punished in the coming years till he passes out of the college.
We, the first year boys and girls wonder whether we have come to a National Institute of Technology or to any remote jungle ruled by tribals. Even tribals will have some culture. Why SPA students should get ragged by MANIT Students and why should they fund the event.
The venue is a closely held secret. But the date will be 4th March 2009. We wonder how the seniors can organise such a massive crime camp in public glare. The MANIT authorities, The human rights watch dogs, the Police, the HRD ministry, the MP Government, The CBI, The MEDIA, The Supreme and High Courts, The Local Collector etc. are not acting then who will put a stop to this.
We are living in a constant fear, and many of the boys and girls are already suffering due to this fear and have become ill. Some of the freshers especially girls may decide to end their lives either before the ragging day or during that day. For most of us who have come from decent families and rural areas the magnitude of this program and its arrangements being opening discussed and organised gives us a fright and our parents are worried and they have been told by us that there is no other option than to pay the amount of Rs 4000 and submit to this cruelty.
We the freshers of MANIT, and SPA, Bhopal hereby appeal to all Indians, or humans to bail us out.
Is there anybody who can put an end to this menace in MANIT, Bhopal. MANIT authorities are busy fight among themselves. When quizzed about why you need so much money for ragging us, the seniors told us – it will be spent on booze, drugs, smokes, food on that day and to entertain their rowdy friends who are not Students of this institutions and to top it all to purchase gifts for the college authorities.
We are putting the responsibility on the society as a whole as all known government agencies cannot help us and save us from this publicly held ragging festival. Who will be responsible for the torture we are undergoing and who will be accountable if some of us decide to end our lives.
Many of us got the cash ready and paid up telling lies to our parents that this money is needed to buy books etc. We are also helping other poor students by lending cash to them as they full aware that they cannot get this much money from their poor parents. MANIT Campus is a shame on progressing INDIA and it is HELL for all freshers. In future please boycott this college and AIEEE should not admit students to this college. SPA should move out of this place and save its wards.
The SC order is not working in MANIT, Bhopal. There is going to be an open RAGGING FESTIVAL being held there on 8th March 2009, and SC, MP Police, UGC, HRD Ministry, National Human Rigts have been informed. But the college authories are not bothered.
Today (Apr. 13th) after reading this I talked to the Dean of Student Affairs of MANIT, Dr. Sushil Mittal at 07552670327. He categorically denied that no such thing happened at MANIT, and he has not got any written complaint from any fresher. So first confirm to me whether the planned ragging mela occurred or not. The DoSA further said that a lot of freshers keep on saying verbally a lot of things to him and even write hypothetical matter on the internet, but he can not give credence to such things! Probably he wanted concrete proof… and in a way he was right also. He also said that ragging was fully under control in the institute. When I asked why then the internet is filled with the Open Ragging Fair reports, he said all that is found on internet is anonymous, so whom to trust!
So here are the points in my opinion if the horrible incident actually took place:
1. Is there any written proof that the college administration was informed about the ragging fair? Can you prove that you informed the institute? If yes, was any senior directly named for arranging such an event? If it is there, I can file an RTI to the institute and ask for the action taken.
2. Was the nature of the ragging in the ragging fair serious, i.e. did it involve crime and human rights violation? If yes, then institute might be accountable in the court of law for gross negligence.
3. If the institute says that no action was taken, I can file an RTI and attempt that local police takes action against the institute, as directed by the Supreme Court recently. Nevertheless by RTI the issue will come to fore and in media awareness.
4. Based on common experience I think that a formal written complaint would probably not have been filed by a fresher. And the damage in the form of ragging has already been done. Nevertheless, now two things can be done:
A) Weaker Step: Ask your friend/relative e.g. cousin (and not parents so that they can pin point you) to send written information about the event, preferably thru fax. Don’t disclose your name in the fax, but state that the complainant’s relative is studying as a fresher and such things were done. Name the students who organized it. Also fax a copy to national / state human rights commissions and MHRD. Then the institute can not deny the knowledge of the event. After that RTI can be filed to ask the institute of the action taken.
B) Stronger Step: There must be some guys in freshers who would be leaving the institute because they would be getting selected in other reputed institutes like IITs. If they are soon leaving the institute, they can be persuaded to file a written formal complaint with the institute. Remember such students don’t need any certificate etc. from the institute, the new college gives admission solely on the basis of 12th marksheet. A complaint by a fresher himself will be a very strong reason to act for the college. Do other things as the previous step, and the RTI part I can take care of.
5. I understand that doing this much as stated above also might be difficult for you. So now come to the Gandhian methods. This would not get you rid of the harsh memories but would help to realize seniors and institute of their faults. And the idea is Satyagrah, yes, Satyagrah i.e. request for conduct that is truthful and just. But a different kind of Satyagrah. Simply make loads of anonymous email accounts and you all send emails to the director, DOSA and each and every faculty. Narrate the brutalilty and ask them if their sons and daughter were there in freshers, had they allowed the same barbarism? Request for an honest answer… Satya ke liye Agrah. Try to narrate a different incident each time so that they do not take these emails just as copied forwarded emails to be deleted without reading. Name each senior who was a barbaric psychopath.
6. Let a thousand such emails be sent to every teacher! No law in India bars you to do so. When every teacher in the institute will be frustrated with so many emails, they will all in one voice ask the director and DoSA to curb the ragging.
7. Send such emails to senior girls also. These seniors boys will be disrobed in front of these girls.
8. Make a website and put a copy of such emails at this website clearly naming the seniors students (and branches) who did brutality in ragging. When seniors get job placement, silently send a link of this website to the HR of the company. Many of them will rethink about their decision. Similarly when a girl at the marriage time will search about that senior guy on google, she will get to know how much barbaric he is. Such things would make a dent to these animals under human skins. So do post with senior’s names on websites/ blogs. Make a dedicated blog for this.
9. Send the whole ragging incident to media. Inform local/ regional media especially since they tend to cover such news more prominently. Ask them to conduct a sting operation next year. (When some of you would become barbaric)
10. Even if you are not satisfied, ask your friends in other cities to call the responsible authorities and all the faculty again and again and without naming you ask them to ask the teachers if their own child was there among juniors, would they have adopted the same inaction as it is at present? Let a thousand calls go to each of these people! There would be tremendous pressure created on the Director and DoSA by the whole faculty. The phone numbers are available at MANIT website.
11. In 2007 similar event occurred at MANIT in which police was called and 8 seniors were expelled. Try to know who were the police officers who did this job. Inform them, ask them to talk to institute.
12. I have decided that I will send ragging related cases where Institute was punished for negligence and inaction for the whole year to the college admin, so that they realize they can also pay a heavy price for inaction.
13. Email this write-up to each-and-each-and-every fresher.
-Gaurav Singhal
gauravsinghal2@yahoo.com
About me: I am a B.Tech. from IIT Kanpur, presently involved with Anti-ragging organizations in India along with my job.
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