Chatur (Omi Vaidya) in the famous ragging scene in 3 Idiots. In this sequence, Aamir’s Rancho (not in picture) manages to outwit his seniors with physics, chemistry and a bit of biology. Sadly, not everyone can do a Rancho!

A scene from Manish Gupta’s Hostel, which deals with the brutality of ragging. The film, which released in January 2011 and sank without a trace, raises the issue of victims of ragging becoming perpetrators to do unto others what they had faced

Ground reality

St. Xavier’s College: What we have in our college cannot be termed “ragging”. The seniors approach freshers in the canteen and initiate a friendly chat, some may ask for a treat or two. Most juniors happily oblige because they want to get into the good books of the popular seniors. It’s interaction, not ragging.

Jadavpur University: We have introduction sessions in each department and initially even the professors are present. After welcoming the new batch, the teachers leave and the seniors start a fun interaction. The freshers are asked to say something quirky or perform some tasks — for instance, a fresher may be asked to profess his/her love for a senior, or run around the campus like a bunny. One lot was asked to introduce themselves in chaste Bengali.

Presidency University: Ours is an informal interaction. The freshers are asked to perform simple tasks, like singing, dancing or even reciting a poem. But they are almost always given a choice. If someone is not comfortable dancing, then he or she can just say no and do something else. All in all, they are very healthy sessions.

Bhawanipur Gujarati Education Society College: We don’t even know what ragging is. We have nothing like that in our college. Our seniors are friendly and helpful. When we joined last year, our seniors came into the class and asked us our names and from which schools we had passed out. They also asked us our hobbies and whether we were interested in any co-curricular activity so that they could identify potential talent for college fests.

Asutosh College: I don’t think you can call what we have in our college “ragging”. Seniors do interact with juniors and sometimes that is misconstrued as ragging. Politics plays a vital role in our college to prevent untoward incidents because if students of a particular party rag juniors, the opposition parties make a hue and cry over it. It’s almost like if you rag a fresher, you lose a vote.

Calcutta University: The situation is very different in hostels compared with day colleges. I was a boarder at Hindu Hostel till last year and believe me, ragging is very much a reality there. Four of the eight freshers who joined Hindu Hostel in my year left because they could not handle the ragging. And it wasn’t physical ragging. Mental torture can be more difficult to bear than physical torture. What is most humiliating is that freshers become a thing of lurid entertainment for others against their will.

Bhawanipur College: Yeah, my friends studying engineering tell me that in their colleges, the fear of ragging has decreased the interaction between juniors and seniors. Freshers try and avoid talking to seniors as much as possible.

Presidency University: In some engineering colleges, new students have to wear formals or have to maintain decorum in front of seniors. In most places, such rules are valid only till the freshers’ welcome programme, after which everyone becomes friends. But who gives a college senior, who is just a year or two older than the fresher, the authority to set the rules or lord it over others?

Calcutta University: Ragging is like a vicious cycle, where the previous year’s victims torture the present batch just to gain a sense of power.

Bhawanipur College: Apparently, students rag in order to gain the respect of their juniors!

The thin red line

Calcutta University: The moot point is, where does “interaction” stop and “ragging” begin? While it is true that a fun interaction often leads to a lasting friendship between students of different years, the same fun tasks can seem like harassment to someone else. Ragging is very subjective in nature. Where do we draw the line?

Presidency University: An “interaction” becomes “ragging” the moment the other person feels even a little bit of discomfort. The senior should stop right then. Even teachers know that, which is why our head of the department left us with the juniors saying “beshi jalash na (don’t trouble them too much)”.

St. Xavier’s College: It’s important that the juniors laugh with the seniors and are not the ones being laughed at. The transformation of an interaction into a ragging session also has to do with how the junior reacts. The less aggressively you react, the better chances of you being left alone.

Jadavpur University: Our professors often advise students where the line should be drawn and what constitutes stepping out of line.

Bhawanipur College: Our professors ask students to respect their seniors and encourage the seniors to do the same.

What colleges are doing

Presidency University: I don’t think we have any anti-ragging rules. Even if the college follows any such code, students haven’t been told about it. But yes, there is talk of setting up an anti-ragging committee now that we have become a university.

Jadavpur University: The anti-ragging rules are very strict in JU. There are anti-ragging committees in each department and there are regular anti-ragging counselling sessions for each department.

Students have been suspended and even expelled for ragging. This year, during admission, students and their guardians have to sign and submit affidavits regarding ragging. They are basically declarations that they understand what constitutes ragging, know that a student is liable for penal and administrative action for ragging, and pledge not to indulge in ragging.

Asutosh College: Our principal usually speaks against ragging and about the punishment involved during the freshers’ orientation. If any student complains, strict action is taken. We were told that students can be expelled as well.

St. Xavier’s College: There is an anti-ragging committee in the college and if ragging charges are proved against anybody, he or she could be expelled.

How it works

Calcutta University: Complaining isn’t so easy. Often, if a fresher complains, he becomes a pariah in the student community. He faces isolation and non co-operation, which is worse.

We must remember that people rag to gain superiority over those whom they consider weak. If a student is reprimanded or suspended because of a junior’s complaint, it creates a further grudge against the junior.

Presidency University: The threat of punishment is effective in terms of reducing instances of ragging but it also often stops all kinds of interaction between juniors and seniors.

Take for example what happened in JU after a first-year girl studying architecture lodged a complaint against some seniors and ex-students of the department. After that, all interaction between the freshers and seniors of the architecture department was barred for the first five months of a new session. Professors would chaperone juniors to their classrooms in between lectures to prevent any contact with seniors. But such segregation affects first-year students negatively because it’s seniors who usually help students get to know the department and help with projects.

Calcutta University: The anti-ragging laws are inadequate to deal with the menace in residential colleges. It does not stop ragging because in hostels, most students do not go and complain because of the fear of isolation and further ragging. Also, boys do not generally seek the help of teachers or the authorities because of the fear of being branded a “sissy”. It’s a male ego thing.

St. Xavier’s College: Students should not be scared of talking to their seniors because if you get past the initial hesitation, they can turn out to be your best friends.

Student suggestions

Calcutta University: The problem with the rules against ragging is that they are reactive rather than pro-active. Also, all the hue and cry is after an act has happened. Colleges should try to stop ragging from taking place.

The rules focus too much on punishment. There is hardly any mechanism for counselling those students who harass others. In most cases, people who rag do it for fun, some do it because others are doing it, and the rest are just sadists. Here counselling is very important — if they don’t torture a junior, they will probably hit a stray dog or do something equally disgusting. And if such youngsters are not given help, they are likely to become an office bully or a monster boss in future.

Also, in many cases, the victim might not want the extreme punishment of expulsion for the senior and so continues to suffer silently.

Presidency College: Yes, now either an offender is let off with a warning or is expelled from the college altogether. There is nothing in between. The authorities should think of punishment that will deter seniors from ragging but not spoil their future.

St. Xavier’s College: Penalising students through marks may be effective. If a student is found to indulge in ragging, his or her marks can be deducted in the next exam. This will really hit students where it hurts but not spoil their career.

READ BEFORE YOU ‘RAG’

What is ragging?

While the severe forms of ragging are evident, according to UGC rules, these also constitute ragging:

Any conduct that has the effect of teasing, treating or handling with rudeness towards a fresher or any other student

Indulging in rowdy or indisciplined activity that causes annoyance, hardship, physical or psychological harm to a fresher or any other student

Asking any student to do any act which he or she will not ordinarily have done and which has the effect of causing or generating a sense of shame, torment or embarrassment

Any act by a senior student that prevents, disrupts or disturbs the regular academic activity of any other student or a fresher

Exploiting the services of a fresher or any other student for completing an academic task assigned to an individual or a group of students

Any financial extortion or forceful expenditure burden put on a student

What is the worst case of campus ragging that you know of? Tell t2@abp.in

(The students participating in the discussion requested not to be identified)