[Time] Is Hazing Worse in India?

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Anxiety is a typical emotion for teenagers around the world upon leaving home to take up residence in a college dormitory. They face the daunting challenges of fitting in and making new friends amid unruly roommates and without the comfort of home cooking. But for thousands of Indian students, the anxiety is driven by an even greater menace: the prospect of constant verbal and physical abuse by senior students as part of a hazing tradition called "ragging," which critics say is systemic and far worse than in the United States.

Although the government does not keep exact figures, the Coalition to Uproot Ragging from Education, a non-profit lobby group, found 52 hazing incidents reported in India's English-language media between June and September of 2007. The group claims that six suicides and three attempted suicides in the same period can be blamed on harassment, which they say is widespread at engineering and medical colleges — mostly, although not exclusively, among male students. Anti-ragging activist Shivam Vij, who launched the website stopragging.org in 2005, claims that nine out of ten students in India are subject to ragging, but that most cases go unreported.

An engineering student in the northern city of Agra broke his legs in October after seniors allegedly pushed him off a college building during a ragging session. In a suicide note, another student at an engineering college in the northern city of Jalandhar described the constant harassment as humiliating and blamed it for his decision to throw himself in front of a speeding train two years ago. "If education... is to serve as the lever to the great surge forward of the Indian nation, the scourge of ragging which corrodes the vitals of our campuses needs to be curbed," an Indian Supreme Court committee concluded in a recent report. Ragging, it said, is "a form of psychopathic behavior and a reflection of deviant personalities."

The ragging problem is a legacy of the British, who imported the practice to India from elite public schools back home. But while experts say extreme forms of hazing have all but disappeared in Britain, they continue in India and other Asian countries. Like mild hazing in the United States, ragging in its more innocent forms — students forced to address seniors as "sir," answering their questions and doing their menial chores — is defended as a way to create camaraderie and build character. In an essay about his experience at the prestigious St. Stephen's College in Delhi, writer Amitav Ghosh describes two ragging experiences that led to lifelong friendships, saying the relationships later helped launch his writing career.

But critics say Ghosh's sympathetic portrayal of ragging reflects a misguided sentimental view too common in India. "Ragging is sold as part of the tradition of the college," says Vij, who refuses to distinguish mild ragging from harsher abuse. "The idea of ragging — that freshmen have to be made to feel lower — is wrong. And once seniors know they can control students, once they taste that power, mild ragging often turns into something harsher."

That was the experience of Rohit Kaliyar, 24, who was at an engineering college in the northern state of Uttaranchal five years ago. Like other freshmen, Kaliyar was told he could not look seniors directly in the eye but had to stare down at the third button on his shirt. Seniors cursed him, slapped him and struck him with a metal ruler. They also entered the hostel around midnight one day and forced his friends to strip and rub Vaseline on each others' bodies, he said. "It was all for their sadistic fun." But freshmen were reluctant to retaliate, he said, reasoning they needed to befriend seniors for books and jobs. A faculty member was also unsympathetic, telling Kaliyar his ragging experience was not that bad.

Kaliyar, who is broadly built and over six feet tall, fought back, but soon left college fearing retribution. Although his father supported his decision to leave, Kaliyar says others were less supportive. "They said, 'You took it to heart. This is something that always happens. You should not have reacted that much,'" Kaliyar explains. "I was filled with rage and anger toward everyone because it was the rare person who said, 'You did the right thing.'"

The government has tried to clamp down on ragging, but so far its efforts have proven ineffective. Many states have enacted anti-ragging laws, and in 2001 the Indian Supreme Court advised colleges to implement measures such as advising students about the punishment for ragging, and informing freshmen of their rights. But the most recent report commissioned by the Supreme Court notes that ragging has not declined, and found that school officials do not report even extreme ragging cases to police. The report also faults state and central government authorities for failing to implement and monitor anti-ragging provisions. The committee recommends that schools be forced to file police reports if the alleged ragging victims or their families are not happy with the institution's response, and says ragging should be added to the list of punishable offenses in the Indian penal code.

But threats of punishment may not be enough. Harsh Agarwal, co-founder of the Coalition to Uproot Ragging, says the practice will stop only if there's a cultural shift in colleges. The Indian Supreme Court committee agrees, calling for human rights instruction for younger students in addition to a widespread public awareness campaign. "The biggest hurdle is no one believes ragging is a social evil," Agarwal says. "When an entire society believes in this, how is enforcement of the law possible?"

[NewKerala] Agricultural college students face ragging

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Sehore, MP, Dec 14 : More than 20 students of the Rafi Ahmed Agricultural College here have complained about being ragged by their seniors.

A complaint in this regard was made to college administration and the Superintendent of Police by students concerned, who are studying in BSc (Agriculture) first year.

The students, on the condition of anonymity, said senior students, including girls, were ragging them from the past one month.

Junior boy students had been stripped, while vulgar remarks were passed to girl students, who were also slapped some times.

College Dean S K Srivastava refused that he had receiving any complaint in this regard. He, however, said, the complaint might had been sent to the anti-ragging committee.

SP Rajendra Prasad said the matter was being investigated.

--- UNI

[MeriNews] Jammu University students stage protest against ragging

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A group of students were ragged by senior students in one of the hostels in Jammu University campus. Junior students were thrashed, paraded naked and later humiliated by some of the senior students. They protested against university administration.

A GROUP of students, who were agitated over the repeated incidents of ragging, ransacked office complex of vice chancellor of Jammu University Prof Amitabh Mattoo last Thursday. They staged protest later outside his chamber demanding strict actions against those students involved in ragging incidents. According to the report, a group of students were ragged by senior students in one of the hostels in Jammu University campus. Junior students were reportedly thrashed, paraded naked and later humiliated by some of the senior students. While staging protest, the students were unhappy with the university authorities for not taking prompt action against students involved in incidents of ragging happened on Wednesday night.

Agitated students alleged that the incidents of ragging were going on inside the hostel for past several days and the issue was brought into the notice of the university authorities. “On Wednesday evening also when the incident took place we immediately contacted our hostel warden but he refused to come and informed us to meet him in the morning”, students peeved over the delayed response told media persons outside the VC chamber amid chanting slogans loudly.

The victimized students alleged that they brought the matter into the notice of the university authorities early in the morning, yet they failed to take any action against the culprits. Angry over the poor response of the authorities, the students assembled outside the main gate of the administrative block and smashed windowpanes, flowerpots and wall paintings. Later, they staged protest outside the VC chamber and chanted slogans demanding action against the students responsible for the act.

University authorities reportedly made several attempts to pacify the agitating students but went in vain. Groups of students also clashed with each other exchanging hot words outside VC’s office trading charges against each other. Dean student welfare PS Pathania told media that university administration has already identified those students who were behind ragging incidents. “We have informed local police authorities and appropriate action will be taken against them soon, he added. Superintendent of Police, who arrived on the spot, said that University administration have been asked to submit a written complain against the students so that they can register an FIR for further action in this case.

[Telegraph] Ragging cry puts off Besu exam

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A STAFF REPORTER

Postgraduate students of Bengal Engineering and Science University (Besu) boycotted semester exams that were to start on Tuesday to protest the alleged ragging of an undergraduate student.

Besu postponed the exams for an indefinite period. On Monday, the undergraduate exams were indefinitely postponed following a boycott by students.

The Students’ Federation of India (SFI) alleged that Afroz Ahmed, a second-year student of information technology, had been ragged in his hostel by Independent Consolidation (IC) supporters late on Monday. The IC, however, denied the charge, saying Afroz was involved in assaulting its supporters.

Vice-chancellor Nikhil Ranjan Banerjea said: “The allegation has been sent to the disciplinary committee.”

[PunjabNewsline] No case of ragging reported from Punjab colleges

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CURE strongly refutes this claim by the government of Punjab. Infact, several media reports point out that this is incorrect. This blog contains the list of cases in Punjab reported in the online English media here.

CHANDIGARH: Not a single case of ragging was reported in any Government and Private Medical/ Nursing/Ayurvedic/Homeopathic and any Para-medical teaching institute in the Punjab State during a current academic year, due to strict vigilance measures initiated by the Punjab Government.

Stating this here Tuesday Tikshan Sud, Medical Education & Research Minister said that the Punjab Medical Education Department had conducted a detailed exercise to control ragging in the State by involving faculty, parents as well as students in this campaign. He said that the department today circulated the latest judgment of Supreme Court on ragging to all Medial Institutes in the State and they have been directed to include the clause of 'expulsion of students involved in ragging from the institute', in the prospectus of next academic year.

Sud said that Medical Superintendent in each institute has been designated as Nodal Officer to check ragging and he would be held accountable in any case of ragging reported in their respective institute.

The Medical Education Minister said that the Punjab Government was committed to check the practice of ragging in the State and the Minister solicited the co-operation all strata of society in this campaign of Punjab Government.

[ToI] Six students held for misbehaviour

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LUCKNOW: As many as six student leaders of the Lucknow University were arrested on Friday on charges of vandalism. The development comes a day after LU authorities lodged a complaint against some of the student leaders for allegedly misbehaving with chief provost and director of Academic Staff College Nishi Pandey. The students were, however, released after being detained in the police lockup for nearly six hours.

The six students included Ranvijay Singh and Maan Singh. The duo was reportedly behind the entire drama which unfolded in front of Academic Staff College on Thursday when Ranvijay alleged Prof Pandey of misbehaving with him.

Significantly, Prof Pandey and proctor AN Singh have acted tough against the student leaders who were engaged in the ragging of their juniors in the university hostels. The two senior faculty members had surveyed some of the hostels and found some rooms where the junior students were reportedly roughed up by the seniors.

[Hindu] College prospectus must have expulsion warning on ragging: SC

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New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Monday directed that universities and colleges shall, henceforth, mention in their admission prospectus that students who indulge in ragging would be expelled from the institution.

A bench of Justices Arijit Pasayat and Aftab Alam, also said that its guidelines for ensuring ban of ragging in universities/colleges, shall apply to colleges under the Medical Council of India (MCI), Dental Council of India; polytechnics and those institutes under the Ministry of Agriculture.

The apex court passed the directions after the amicus curiae (friend of court) and Additional Solicitor General Gopal Subramaniam sought such directions, as many incidents of ragging continued to be reported in the country despite its earlier directions for implementation of the Raghavan committee recommendations.

Moreover, he said, that there were misconceptions among authorities of medical colleges, polytechnics and institutions imparting education on agriculture that the anti-ragging rules were not applicable to them as they were under separate regulatory bodies.

The amicus curiae also mentioned two separate incidents of ragging in which a student was reportedly forced to consume narcotic substances and another physically-challenged student was subjected to ragging by his seniors.