SEVERAL young lives have been tragically lost recently due to ragging. Many more, who do not report the problem, are scarred for life. ‘Ragging’ in India has taken a brutal, inhuman, and anti-social form leading to acts of violence, torture, and at times even death. Bullying, abusive behaviour, intimidation, physical, verbal and even sexual assaults have been condoned by society for long in the name of ragging.
Many institutions do not enforce the guidelines to curb ragging fully in letter and spirit. The refrain usually is …“Oh it’s a healthy way for seniors and juniors to interact and bond”. It is time the behaviour and actions in the name of ragging are called out for what they are – a criminal offence. Institutional authorities must be made more accountable.
Toxic masculinity
For every extreme case of ragging reported, many cases go unreported and many young people suffer indignities quietly. Whereas the perpetrators, the bullies, mostly young adult boys who remain unchecked, learn the toxic masculine behaviour early. By condoning such criminal behaviour, bullies are often encouraged from a young age, and this is linked to the development of toxic masculinity at a later stage. Such behaviour when learnt and confirmed from a young age becomes a habit. This problem must be addressed in all seriousness. Boys think they ought to assert their masculinity through aggressive and violent behaviour in order to become ‘real men’.
Not enough done
To be sure, a lot of progress has been made in reducing the harmful impact of ragging following the 2009 Supreme Court judgment and the subsequent guidelines of the University Grants Commission (UGC). However, we continue to see precious young lives lost due to the menace of ragging in educational institutions.
So where are the gaps? What can be done to ensure that the social and cultural acceptance of criminal behaviour in the name of interaction (ragging) within the institutions is deterred and stopped?
Accountability needed
Generally, the steps taken against ragging are punitive in nature (i.e., in the form of imprisonment / punishment). But it is necessary to move beyond this. Liability against the acts of ragging should not be limited to the offender. Rather, accountability in the form of vicarious liability should also be imposed on institutions. Therefore, apart from creating antiragging committees, lodging an FIR, and directing the appropriate authorities, more concrete steps must be taken by institutions.
Institutions responsible
It is time for the institutions to perceive and act on the problem differently and move beyond the issue of law enforcement and focus on preventive measures. Often, institutions do not take issues seriously until much harm is done and the formal criminal justice system steps in. This is because we have the strange notion of institutional reputation, where it seems, the dignity and safety of young adults matter less than the name of the institution. After leaving the cocoon of homes and families, once they are admitted into a higher education institution, we tend to believe, that young adults are now free to choose to study and live as per their will. That the institutions will take care of their safety and dignity.
Recommendatory steps
Thus, the following are recommendatory steps should be followed by institutions.
1. Preventive measures at institutions should be more robust and all the anti-ragging provisions must be discussed openly and shared widely with parents, new students and seniors jointly. It should not remain limited to the signing of a declaration in fine print. Having anti-ragging policies in place is not enough of a deterrent. Knee-jerk rustications and suspensions are not enough. More systemic steps are needed, to prevent escalation of behaviour. For example, there must be greater checks and inspections of deviant behaviour at night, functional CCTVs in common areas, and availability of 24×7 helplines along with good quality counselling.
2. Wardens and the authorities must take more responsibility and not leave hostel management only to senior students and their council.
3. The good practice of a hostelbuddy system being implemented in some institutions must be scaled up. At times a student might not be comfortable reporting an act of ragging to the college authorities or the police. Therefore, every institution should create a system of ‘Hostel Buddies (identified senior) through which prospective students can directly approach their assigned buddy in their respective hostels against an act of ragging. This will create pressure on seniors to care for and to respond to the newcomer.
4. Training programmes must be conducted for both faculty members and students. As ragging is done on the pretext of an ‘ice breaker’, its psychological and emotional consequences remain unknown. The trauma of being harassed and tortured remains in the mind of the sufferer and becomes a reason for anxiety, depression, and suicide.
5. As we move from a retributive to a rehabilitative form of punishment, efforts should be made to understand the psyche of the offender. Institutions need to identify bullies and take early correctional measures. Institutions must engage counsellors in a more meaningful way to tackle this problem. The aim of punishment should be to reform the character of the offender and to restore him / her to a constructive place in society through a combination of treatment, education and training.
6. Parents also must engage and prepare their children, especially boys when they leave home, that the values of ‘real men’ are kindness, maturity, compassion and empathy. Parents must counsel their children regularly to seek help early and not to take too much pressure on themselves. No institution is worth the life of a young person.
7. Finally, the Draft Ragging Bill 2019 needs to be made into a law.
Protect the vulnerable
Overall, the culture and environment in our educational institutions must promote dignity and self-respect.
Help teach students kindness, respect for diversity, compassion and adjustments to a diverse range of human emotions. Institutions have the responsibility to protect the vulnerable at all times. Parents send their children to educational institutions for them to become educated and evolved human beings.
Institutions must drop their obsession with facilities, ranks, percentiles, placements and packages. They will be measured by how many truly evolved human beings they have produced and how they serve society. Nothing less is expected from our higher institutions.
Because even if one life of a young adult is destroyed or scarred due to the negligence of the institutions – it may just be another number for the institution – but remember for the family, it is one too many.
