Students enact the street play on Gauhati University premises on Saturday. Picture by UB Photos

Aug. 26: Students of Gauhati University on Saturday attempted to send out a strong message to students of all colleges and universities through a street play.

The message was strong and clear — refrain from ragging, as you may destroy the lives and careers of young people. The audience, too, was touched to see the portrayal of two new students being ragged by the seniors when they arrived in the college, through the street play.

It was organised by the university unit of All Assam Students’ Union (AASU), in collaboration with the department of mass communication of Gauhati University.

Students of the particular department enacted the play in four different locations on the campus, throughout the day. As the script unfolded, these students were seen stepping on the college campus with hopes of a new life ahead, but to their distress they were received with a hostile attitude from their seniors.

Instead of being welcomed, the senior students derived much pleasure in asking them rude questions and passing caustic remarks, in the name of being introduced.

It was not just a single day that they had to endure this ragging, as it went on for weeks at a stretch.

However, their plight came to end after a few friendly seniors came to their rescue and made sure that no one bothered them.

The play finally ended on a happy note, but the repercussions of such instances of ragging were mostly negative in real life.

Several times the victims of ragging have to abandon their courses midway, as they are unable to bear the atrocities and humiliation meted out to them by their seniors in many colleges and universities.

“We organised the street play basically to make the students as well as the general public aware about the ill-effects of ragging. There have been several instances where new students are bullied and humiliated by their seniors when they first arrive in an educational institution. The victims are seen enduring the ill treatment silently after their seniors threaten them of dire consequences, if they happen to complain about their plight to the college authorities. In many cases, the promising careers of good students come to an end when they are forced to leave their courses halfway, as they are unable to tolerate ragging. Today we have sent out a strong message to students across the state to refrain from indulging in any form of ragging,” Bhoba Jyoti Bezbaruah, president of the university unit of AASU, said.

“Fortunately, no case of ragging has been witnessed on our university campus so far, as all our students have been strictly warned against engaging in any such activities. ” Bezbaruah said.