Ragging is the term used for the so-called "initiation ritual" practiced in higher education institutions in the Indian subcontinent, including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. The practise is similar to hazing in North America, bizutage in France, praxe in Portugal, and other similar practices in educational institutions across the world. Ragging involves abuse, humiliation, or harassment of new entrants or junior students by the senior students. It often takes a malignant form wherein the newcomers may be subjected to psychological or physical torture.[1][2]In 2009, the University Grants Commission of India imposed regulations upon Indian universities to help curb ragging and launched a toll-free 'anti-ragging helpline'.[3]
The freshmen are asked to dress in a specific dress code for a particular period of time. The dress code prescribed is generally unusual, e.g. dressing completely in white or black with the hair oiled and combed in a particular style, dressing in shirts that do not contain stripes, dressing in long skirts for girls. Dress code ragging may make freshmen feel uncomfortable, as it often brings them unnecessary attention from everybody else. Some cases say that the juniors were also forced to carry condom packs with their penis size written on the pack mandatorily as an attempt at further abuse.
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Verbal torture involves indulging in loose talks.[clarification needed] The freshmen may be asked to sing the lyrics of any vulgar song or use abusive language in the presence of a large number of peers. During this time, seniors assign an abusive and demeaning nickname, known as card, to the juniors and they have to be called by that name throughout their entire university life. In some universities, this nickname is changed to a less vulgar name after the ragging period. These aliases are used primarily as a means of preventing the university authorities identifying the students who are involved in ragging and other unlawful activities. The form of verbal ragging differs from one institution to another. In some universities, students have to memorize poems made up of filth and recite them in front of others. The juniors had to call seniors as sir/ma'am and in some cases the juniors are told to refer all male seniors as "Baap", i.e. father, in order to abuse the senior.
The freshers, mostly the male juniors, were often made to strip all their clothes and stand naked in front of their seniors and are entitled to other kind of sexual abuse as well. Several reports present that boys were often made completely naked in hostels in the name of ragging and ice-breaking. Earlier times reported boys being completely naked at public places as well like railway stations as a part of ragging which is very humiliating. Other kinds of sexual abuse also used to happen. Some answers on Quora say that boys were forced to drink urine, swallow semen, masturbate and much more sexually abusive and humiliating things under the name of ragging.
Several highly reputed Indian colleges, especially medical ones have a history of ragging. Sometimes it is even considered to be a college tradition.[5][6] It has become increasingly unpopular due to several complaints of serious injury to the victims and stringent laws pertaining to ragging. At the national level, ragging is currently defined as: "Any act of physical or mental abuse (including bullying and exclusion) targeted at another student (fresher or otherwise) on the ground of colour, race, religion, caste, ethnicity, gender (including transgender), sexual orientation, appearance, nationality, regional origins, linguistic identity, place of birth, place of residence or economic background."[7]
A report from 2007 highlights 42 instances of physical injury, and reports on ten deaths purportedly the result of ragging.[10] Ragging has reportedly caused at least 30 deaths in the last seven years. In 2007, approximately seven ragging deaths were reported. In addition, a number of freshmen were severely traumatised to the extent that they were admitted to mental institutions.
However, the Anti-Ragging NGO Society Against Violence in Education (SAVE) has supported that ragging is also widely and dangerously prevalent in engineering and other institutions, mainly in the hostels.
Following a Supreme Court order, a National Anti-Ragging Helpline was created to help the victims and take action in cases of ragging, by informing the head of the institution and the local police authorities of the ragging complaint from the college. The main feature of the helpline is that the complaints can be registered anonymously.[8][9]
India's National Anti-Ragging Helpline started working in June 2009 to help students in distress due to ragging. It can be reached through email and a 24-hour toll-free number. Provision for anonymous complaints was considered of utmost important at the time of establishment of the helpline, since the victim after making the complaint remains with or close to the culprits, away from a fully secure environment. Since many ragging deaths, like Aman Kachroo's,[12] occurred due to seniors taking a revenge of the complaint made, anonymous complaints were equally allowed at the helpline.
As per UGC regulations, it is mandatory for a college to register an F.I.R.[clarification needed] with police against the culprits if any violence, physical abuse, sexual harassment, confinement etc. takes place with any fresher.[13] After receiving any such complaint from the helpline, it becomes the duty of the head of the institution to register the F.I.R. with police within 24 hours. In 2013, a police case was registered against the director, dean and registrar of a reputed college in Delhi for, among other charges, not informing the police and registering F.I.R. within 24 hours of receiving the ragging complaint. (failing to inform a public authority, IPC 176).[14]
The database of the Anti-Ragging Helpline indicates that it has been to an extent successful in ensuring a safer environment in colleges from where it registered the complaints. In many cases, it forwarded the complaint to the University Grants Commission (UGC) for an action against those colleges which refused to take any action against the culprits.[citation needed]
A major concern that was highlighted against the helpline was that it registered a minuscule percentage (0.1%) of the total phone calls it received. Specifically, the toll-free helpline (1800-180-5522) received 165,297 calls in the three months of November 2012 to January 2013, but only 190 complaints were registered in this period.[15] In its defence, the helpline said that most of the calls it received were of inquiry in nature, of the eager students to know whether the helpline number worked or not. Some students changed their minds midway not to register the complaint.[16] It also said that many of the calls were hoaxes as it was a toll-free number.
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,[17] in response to a Public Interest Litigation filed by the Vishwa Jagriti Mission.
"Whoever directly or indirectly commits, participates in, abets or propagates ragging within or outside any educational institution shall, on conviction, be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years and shall also be liable to a fine which may extend to ten thousand rupees.""Maharashtra Prohibition of Ragging Act, 1999". Maharashtra Act No. XXXIII of 1999 (PDF). p. 2.
Students who have been convicted under this act may also be dismissed from their educational institution, and not be allowed to enroll in any other educational institution for five years. In addition, the act lays out a procedure by which education institutions should handle accusations of ragging, with suspension of the accused student(s) and investigation of the allegations, and holds those institutions accountable if they fail to act in the manner described. Under Section 7 of the Act, the head of the institution who fails or neglects to properly investigate such allegations :"shall be deemed to have abetted the offense of ragging and shall, on conviction, be punished as provided for in section 4", "Maharashtra Prohibition of Ragging Act, 1999". Maharashtra Act No. XXXIII of 1999 (PDF). p. 3. In other words, the school principal, chancellor, or other head faces the same punishment as a student who has been accused and convicted under this law.
It was applied in 2013, and resulted in the suspension of six students from Rajiv Gandhi Medical College in Mumbai.[18] The most notable case in which it has been applied is the Suicide of Payal Tadvi, in which three senior medical students were charged under this act as well as under the Scheduled Caste and the Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, and the Information Technology Act, 2000.[19][20] The charge-sheet filed by the Mumbai Police alleges that the ragging in this case consisted of harassment, humiliation, and discrimination, which directly led to her suicide.[21] Since 2018, at the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences, the university which supervises the Topiwala National Medical College where Payal Tadvi studied, six of seven accusations of ragging could not proven.[20] In 2010, 18 students at the Seth GS Medical College were arrested and charged with ragging under the Act.[22]
In June 2019, after the suicide of Payal Tadvi, there were calls to strengthen the anti-ragging laws to check anti-caste bias. The law itself does not mention caste-based discrimination or other specific forms of bias.[24]
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.[25]
The Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD), following a directive by the Supreme Court, appointed a seven-member panel headed by former CBI director Dr. R. K. Raghavan to recommend anti-ragging measures. The Raghavan Committee report,[26] 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[27] (based on the recommendations) dated 16 May 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 the criminal justice system, and not by the academic institutions' own ad-hoc bodies. 2ff7e9595c
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