Ragging is a practice in educational institutions in India, Pakistan,Bangladesh and Sri Lanka that involves existing students baiting or bullying new students. It is similar to the American phenomenon of hazing. It often takes a malignant form wherein the newcomers may be subjected to psychological or physical torture.^[1][2] Currently, Sri Lanka is said to be the worst affected country in the world.^[3][4]

Recent cases[link]

Since 2001, ragging has been the focus of a number of legal actions. For example, the Supreme Court of India defined it in a judgement as actions that "adversely affect the physique or psyche of a fresher or a junior student".^[5]

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.

Another anti-ragging NGO from India, Society Against Violence in Education (SAVE) has noted 7 reported ragging deaths in the year 2007 alone and 31 reported deaths in the period 2000-2007.

In Pakistan ragging has not been deadly in nature but has been very severe. In recent years at the Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Institute (SZABIST) in Karachi, the students were forced to take off their pants on the roads, due to which a severe action was taken and ragging was banned in that institute (although it still continues a lot in that university.) The previous year at Institute of Business Management in Karachi, a student was trying to run away from the raggers when which he was struck with a set of glass doors. The glass damaged the area surrounding his eyes. In Pakistan generally ragging takes place in Private Business institutions, but it barely takes place in other institutes.

^[6]

Mention by Eminent Persons[link]

The legendary Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan in a media appearance said,"Ragging has happened with me too. I passed out my college in the 60s, and at that time also, ragging was existent in colleges, sometimes worse... I really can't tell you guys what kind of ragging I have been through. Please don't ask me."^[7]

The management guru Arindam Chaudhuri writes about his IIT Delhi friends "Well, their first months in IIT were traumatic to say the least. They would cry in front of me. They couldn’t take in the humiliation of ragging. The humiliation of being stripped totally naked and being made to run around the IIT Delhi campus... The engineering and medical colleges of India are the havens of the worst possible ragging in this country."^[8]

Another Bollywood actor Arjun Rampal reveals that in the summer of 1990 he walked into his college and had mistakenly asked a senior to carry his luggage into the hostel. The actor was subsequently ragged for a long time and vowed never to rag his juniors in turn. Rampal is admittedly very much against ragging and considers it to be equal to a full-fledged crime.^[9]

Sujit Saraf, a California-based filmmaker and playwright studied at the IIT-Delhi between 1987 and ’92. He reveals "we crawled on all fours and barked like dogs; we brought cigarettes and Campa Cola for our seniors; we cleaned their rooms; we dropped our trousers so they could measure our penises; we formed human trains — each car holding the penis of the car in front — and whistled our way through hostel corridors; we simulated orgies; stripped naked"^[10]

Noted film-maker Imtiaz Ali has a similar experience, "In college (Hindu College, Delhi), a lot of guys had stripped me naked during the ragging... At that time it was terrible....Craziest thing I've ever done – we've all walked naked...in those days ... it was part of mass ragging that everyone had to do" ^[11]

India: UGC Regulation On Curbing The Menace Of Ragging In Higher Educational Institutions, 2009[link]

In 2009, in the wake of Aman Kachroo's death, University Grants Commission (UGC) in India passed UGC REGULATION ON CURBING THE MENACE OF RAGGING IN HIGHER EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS, 2009.^[12] These regulation mandate every college responsibilities to curb the menace of ragging, including strict pre-emptive measures, like lodging freshers in a separate hostel, surprise raids especially at nights by the anti-ragging squad and submission of affidavits by all senior students and their parents taking oath not to indulge in ragging. ^[13]

Use of Right To Information[link]

Despite all these legislations, the implementation has been slow on the part of the educational institutions. Many anti-ragging activists have advocated use of right to information (RTI) by the freshers/ victims to ensure that the institutions follow the rules to curb ragging strictly.^[14] For example, one of the strongest reasons for ragging to happen is that the raggers are dead sure that parents would never ever get to know their heinous acts. The affidavit filed by parents to the institution has the name, address and telephone numbers of the parents of the senior students. A fresher can file RTI applications, even without disclosing identity by using a friend's help and name, to get a copy of this affidavit, and then call/ write himself or make his parents talk to ragger’s parents to rein in him. Also, the college and the UGC can be made to follow the anti-ragging measures strictly by the use of RTI. Once freshers take courage and start doing that, it is a general feeling that ragging may drastically reduce in India, as every student will become a soldier in the fight against ragging. Sample RTI applications have also been posted by some of the anti-ragging websites to help students in that.

See also[link]

• Hazing
• Anti-raggers in Sri Lankan universities
• Bullying in academia
• Ragging in India
• Ragging in Sri Lanka
• Fagging

References[link]

External links[link]

Look up rag in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Ragging in Bangladesh
• Ragging in India- Menace
• Rag Picker

Namitha, is an Indian film actress, who appears in Malayalam films. She made her acting debut in the Malayalam film Traffic. ^[1]

Film Career[link]

Namitha came into the world of acting when she was in seventh standard by taking on roles in serials such as Vellankanni Mathavu where she played the role of Mathavu, Amme Devi she played the role of Devi and in Ente Manasa Puthri she played Anjali. She made her debut in movies when she acted as Riya, the dying daughter of Rahman and Lena, in Traffic directed by Rajesh Pillai. ^[2]

Personnel Life[link]

Namitha is currently a Plus One student.^[3]

Filmography[link]

Serials[link]

• Vellankanni Mathavu ... Mathavu

• Amme Devi ... Devi

• Ente Manasa Puthri ... Anjali

References[link]

External links[link]

• Namitha at the Internet Movie Database

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