Does Ragging Develop Friendship ?

DOES RAGGING DEVELOPS FRIENDSHIP OR NOT?

Does ragging develope friendship? Ragging is a term used for active, systematical human rights abuses, similar to hazing and fagging, the severest forms of which are found in engineering, medical and military colleges. Ragging is defined as the doing of any act which causes, or is likely to cause any physical, psychological or physiological harm of apprehension or shame or embarrassment to a student, and includes (a) Teasing or abusing of playing Practical joke on, or causing hurt to any student. or (b) Asking any student to do any act, or perform anything, which he/she would not, in the ordinary course, be willing to do or perform. The Honble Supreme Court of India perhaps has given a more comprehensive meaning of ragging as under: Ragging is any disorderly conduct, whether by words spoken or written, or by an act which has the effect of teasing, treating or handling with rudeness any student, indulging in rowdy or indisciplined activities which cause or are likely to cause annoyance, hardship or psychological harm or to raise fear or apprehension thereof in a fresher or a junior student and which has the effect of causing or generating a sense of shame or embarrassment so as to adversely affect the psyche of a fresher or a junior student.". * Some of the most popular forms of ragging in colleges are: * Dress Code Ragging * Formal Introduction * Verbal Torture * Playing The Fool * Hostel Ragging * Drug Abuse How Ragging Affects The Victim: 1. An unpleasant incident of ragging may leave a permanent scar in the victims mind that may haunt him for years to come. 2. The victim declines into a shell, forcing himself into ignominy and alienation from the rest of the world. 3. It demoralizes the victim who joins college life with many hopes and expectations. The accurate meaning of the word 'ragging' is to 'tease', but even the dictionary says it is an archaic meaning.The...

If you are constantly harrassing someone over an embarrassing moment, do you think it is fun for him or her? I think ragging means to constantly bring up unpleasant problems that you've

seen someone do, and that isn't friendly at all. If you are giving them advice to help them from embarrassing themselves again, that is different, but be careful not to bring it up more than twice in a week, and no more than once a year unless you see them repeat the mistake with your own eyes, and they really look like they need the help. Ragging on someone never helps, but giving advice when it is appropriate is very friendly if the advice is given in amical terms. Shane
College life is very important in everybody's life because it not only determines teh future of a person but also is a time when most students understand the realities of life.But,do all students enjoy their campus life is an unanswered question which needs attention. According to the statistics,most of the students do not enjoy their campus life atleast till the end of their first year.This is mainly because of ragging ,then what are the advantages of ragging in colleges.For few ragging is inducing,compelling or forcing a student by means of practical joke or otherwise to do any act which detracts ts from human dignity. There are two kinds of ragging,one is verbal and the other is physical.Usually,the effect of verbal ragging is less when compared to physical.There should be strict laws which should punish striclty and instantly,if there are any complaints to the police or vice chancellor to implement and drive ragging they need to act more wisely. People who rag should be held so that other people think it was a good lesson for the students and hopefully will not dare to do it again in future. Ragging has become an annual 'tradition' in which the victims are solely the freshers. Tips for freshers: - Do not dress snazzily, it will catch attention. - Keep a low profile. - Move about in groups. If the seniors catch a few of you together, you will not be too nervous. - If things go out of bounds, report to the authorities. Remember law prohibits ragging.

Tips for the seniors: - Originally ragging was meant to be form of social interaction, light hearted way to meet the freshers and to get acquainted with them. Make an effort to adhere to this ideology. - The freshers are by and large a timid lot. You ought to try and make them comfortable instead of enhancing their fears and apprehensions. - Light banter, jokes, teasing, innocent but foolish acts etc are fair enough but avoid physical violence at any level (in any degree) whatsoever. - Similarly do not force the youngsters to do things that have clear cut sexual overtones. Enjoyment is a must but it must be utterly devoid of vulgarity. - Treat the youngsters with kindness car and sympathy, so that they are encouraged to look up to you, instead of hating you or avoiding you throughout the academic session.

AN ACT TO PROHIBIT RAGGING IN EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS IN THE STATE OF ANDHRA PRADESH. Be it enacted by the Legislative Assembly of the State of Andhra Pradesh in the Forty-eighth Year of the Republic of India, as follows:-1. (1) This Act may be called the, Andhra Pradesh Prohibition of Ragging Act, 1997. (2) It extends to the whole of the State of Andhra Pradesh. (3) It shall be deemed to have come into force with effect from 4th July, 1997. 2. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires (a) act includes words either spoken or written or signs or sounds or gestures or visible representations; (b) Educational Institution means and includes a college, or other institution by whatever name called, carrying on the activity or imparting education therein (either exclusively or among other activities); and includes an orphanage or boarding home or hostel or a tutorial institution or any other premises attached thereto; (c) government means the State Government of Andhra Pradesh; (d) notification means the notification published in the Andhra Pradesh Gazette and the word notified shall be construed accordingly; (e) ragging means doing an act which causes or is likely to cause insult or annoyance of fear or apprehension or threat or intimidation or outrage of modesty or injury to a student; (f) student means a person who is admitted to an educational institution and whose name is lawfully borne on the attendance register thereof; (g) All words and expressions used but not defined in this Act shall have the meanings assigned to them under the Andhra Pradesh Education Act, 1982 or the Indian Penal Code, 1860 respectively. 3. Ragging within or outside any educational institution is prohibited. 4. Whoever, with the intention of causing ragging or with the knowledge that he is likely by such act to cause ragging, commits or abets ragging and thereby (i) teases or embarrasses or humiliates a student shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months or with fine which may extend to one thousand rupees or with both; or (ii) assaults or uses criminal force to or criminally intimidates, a student shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year or with fine which may extend to two thousand rupees or with both; or (iii) wrongfully restrains or wrongfully confines or causes hurt to a student shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years or with fine which may extend to five thousand rupees or with both; or (iv) causes grievous hurt to or kidnaps or abducts or rapes or commits unnatural offence with a student shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to five years and with fine which may extend to ten thousand rupees; or (v) causes death or abets suicide shall be punished with imprisonment for life or with imprisonment for a term which may extend to ten years and with a fine which may extend to fifty thousand rupees. 5. (1) A student convicted of an offence under Section 4 and punished with imprisonment for a term shall be dismissed from the educational institution. (2) A student convicted of an offence under Section 4 and punished with imprisonment for a term of more than six months shall not be admitted in any other educational institution. Without prejudice to the foregoing provisions, whenever any student complains of ragging to the Head or Manager of an educational institution, such Head or Manager shall inquire into or cause an inquiry to be made into the same forthwith and if the complaint is primafacie found true, shall suspend the student or students complained against for such period as may be deemed necessary. (2) The decision of the Head or Manager of the educational institution under sub-section (1) shall be final. 7. (1) If the Head or the Manager of an educational institution fails or neglects to take action in the manner specified in sub-section (1) of Section 6, such person shall be deemed to have abetted the offence and shall be punished with the punishment provided for the offence. (2) If a student commits suicide due to or in consequence of ragging, the person who commits such ragging shall be deemed to have abetted such suicide. 8. The provisions of this Act shall be in addition to and not derogatory of any law for the time being in force. 9.

(1) The Government may by notification, make rules for carrying out all or any of the purposes of this Act. (2) Every rule made under this Act shall immediately after it is made, be laid before the Legislative Assembly of the State, if it is in session and if it is not in session, in the session immediately following for a total period of fourteen days which may be comprised in one session or in two successive sessions, and if, before the expiration of the session in which it is so laid or the session immediately following the Legislative Assembly agrees in making any modification in the rule or in the annulment of the rule, the rule shall, from the date on which the modification or annulment is notified, have effect only in such modified form or shall stand annulled as the case may be so, however, that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that rule. 10. The Andhra Pradesh Prohibition of Ragging Ordinance, 1997 is hereby repealed.

For most of the students, college years are fondly remembered as the best days of their life, but for some, the years may bring about memories of unpleasant ragging. Each year, we come across reports of ragging instances in educational institutions; some of them are so extreme that the victims are reported to go into depression or worse, commit suicide. One major problem with ragging is that there is a very delicate line that separates harmless teasing that might lead to knowing one another, to brutal orders that scar the victim, emotionally and sometimes physically. Though ragging is banned legally, even then there are numerous instances of the freshers subjected to ragging by their seniors;which go unreported for various reasons. For some, the trauma remains for lifetime affecting the onwards life principles. Many are forced to pull out of their favourite courses or colleges due to fear of ragging. Many students do not report incidences of ragging due to fear of losing peer affiliation; they fear being ostracized by their batch mates or seniors as being weak and complaining. There are quite a few individuals who are best described as bullies in their normal lives, for whom ragging is their window to vent their own frustrations. They are the dangerous ones. Some even indulge in perversion which could be traced back to their family life. Some can be even charged with abetting suicide or homicide. The college or university authorities can formulate strict rules and regulation against perpetration of ragging in the campuses. The authority should first define what ragging is giving comprehensive list of acts tantamounting to ragging. When a student joins a college, he or she must be made to furnish undertaking for not indulging in any type of ragging. The undertaking is to be endorsed by parents with the confirmation that in the event of their ward being found guilty of indulging in ragging, summery expulsion would ensue. Any amount of law or police interventions is not going to help because first and foremost, institutions are averse to get entangled in legal imbroglio for fear of losing their reputation and prospective students and thereby, less business. It therefore, devolves with the institutions themselves to put in place the check and balances, if ragging is to be totally abolished.

One major problem with ragging is that there is a very delicate line that separates harmless teasing that might lead to knowing one another, to brutal orders that scar the victim, emotionally and sometimes physically. Though ragging is banned legally, even then there are numerous instances of the freshers subjected to ragging by their seniors;which go unreported for various reasons. For some, the trauma remains for lifetime affecting the onwards life principles. Many are forced to pull out of their favourite courses or colleges due to fear of ragging. Many students do not report incidences of ragging due to fear of losing peer affiliation; they fear being ostracized by their batch mates or seniors as being weak and complaining.

Ragging incidents have been reported from not only medical colleges, but also from other institutes like engineering and normal degree colleges. Two cases of ragging had taken place in private engineering colleges in the city last year which are still afresh in the memories of locals.

"I lost my son to ragging and no one can compensate my this loss," said Malti Tiwari, whose son had died during ragging in a private engineering college located on city outskirts. A student of a renowned college of the city described his initial days of stay at the college hostel as horrible. The student, on the condition of anonymity, said, "When I joined hostel for the first time, I witnessed the horror of ragging. Initially I only had heard stories about ragged incidents. Though ragging was prohibited by the authorities in my college, it was an open secret that during weekends especially in night hours, we are called upon by the seniors in their rooms and punished. We were also called 'dhurra' (meaning donkey)." He went on to add that the seniors used to gather in the lawn of hostel premises along with the juniors and then the real show of humiliating pranks and abusive language used to go on till morning. While elaborating the role of the college authorities, the student said that whenever any problem arises out of these ragging sessions, some seniors settle the dispute within the hostel and aggrieved fresher is prevented from approaching the proctor office. However, if any student dares to avoid such pressure and lodges a complaint, the college authorities do take appropriate action. On many occasions, students have been rusticated because of ragging but it happens only when anyone lodges a complaint.

However, some students have a very different approach towards this ragging system. Rahul Verma, a student of a renowned engineering college of the city, said, "Ragging is not a bad practice if done in a proper and healthy way."
Ragging, Hazing, Fagging, Bullying, Pledging, Horse-playing etc. are different terms used in different parts of the world but each signifying the same old practice of welcoming the fresher in a barbaric manner. This phenomenon can be traced back to as early as 7th or 8th century A.D. In Greek culture, new entrants to the sport community were subjected to all kinds of humiliations and teasing to inculcate a team spirit in them. Gradually with the passage of time this technique was subjected to myriad modifications and was later adopted by the military forces, from there it finally entered in the education system. These were named after Greek letters like Alpha, Phi, Beta, Kappa, Epsilon, Delta etc and were called as Greek Letter Organizations (GLO's) or Fraternities. The new entrants to these fraternities were known as PLEDGES. During this time ragging (called as Hazing in west) existed in its rudimentary form and was merely a ritual to test the courage of the pledge. The first ragging related death occurred in 1873 when a freshman from Cornell University fell into a gorge as a consequence of ragging. Ragging underwent a massive transformation after World-War 1. It was during this time that it started to acquire its real brutal form. Soldiers returning from war re-entered the college and brought with them the technique of Hazing (ragging) learned in military camp. These techniques were used to make individual fail as an individual and succeed as a team. This philosophy of team development continued to be used in different fraternities. Eventually when fewer military students entered college these techniques were passed onto others who did not understand their purpose or usage and ragging became a brutal and hazardous exercise. Gradually in the early 20th century ragging related violence started to escalate in the western countries.

In India the tradition of ragging was imported along with the English education. Though it existed in the Army and English public schools much before the country's independence, it became conspicuous only after independence. Ragging then meant seniors mocking and jesting at juniors. Till the late 60's ragging was never a serious problem in India as it was relatively in a much milder form, primarily because higher education was confined to some particular sect of the society and hence ragging was confined only to a part of the civilized community of this country. Gradually as the higher education became more and more accessible to different communities, ragging became a soft weapon to settle the animosity between students of different castes, communities and religion etc. Deep influence of the media during the 80's made ragging much more brutal and violent in India. Soon ragging became a measuring rod to test the grit of the seniors. Many seniors, who were reluctant to rag their juniors, finally succumbed to peer pressure. It is still an important factor in Indian ragging. During the early 90's rapid mushrooming of new private Engineering and Medical colleges led to several disastrous experiments with this old practice of ragging. It made Southern India a hub of this brutal activity. During the 90's ragging related suicides began to increase at a rapid rate. In 1997 Tamil Nadu, which was one of the worst affected state, became the first province in India to bring legislation against ragging. In 2001, the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India banned ragging throughout the country. It was now left to the college authorities to enforce this law. This led to complete disappearance of daytime ragging in campus which was much healthier and a safer mode of interaction while more threatening and virulent ragging in the hostels continues to thrive in most of the colleges. History teaches us that borrowing the foreign culture has always proven to be disastrous to the importing nation. Ragging is just another example to it. We tend to forget that ragging is a western culture and is deleterious in a multi-ethnic and diverse society such as India. Even in the west ragging was always used as tool to take out vengeance between the Blacks and Whites.

In India, a myth that ragging makes the fresher bold has always existed. This has given a passive social approbation to this cruel practice. As long as this exists ragging will never see its demise.