----------------------------------------------------------------------- Documented by Goa Desc Documentation Service & circulated by Goa Civic & Consumer Action Network (GOA CAN)<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Ph:2252660 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------- Ragging phobia haunts college aspirants -----------------------------------------------------
Ms Zarine Arora is a little scared about beginning college. Not that she hasn't dreamt of new friends, new clothes and a whole new lifestyle that college will entail, but then there's the nagging fear 'of ragging.'
"I am scared to set foot in college, I feel jittery thinking what seniors would ask me to do," she says.The new college session for the year will begin in the middle of July. And with that will begin the rendezvous between newcomers and their seniors.
Says Ms Ruchika Rastogi, now in the second year of her BA- English honours course in Deshbandhu College: "When I entered college, I was asked to give my introduction in chaste Hindi. I obviously kept getting stuck, so I was asked to keep saying everything all over again."
Pranks played on 'freshers,' as the new entrants are called, are also a part of ragging. Sometimes, it can be fun.
Ms Rebecca Sharon, a former student of Sri Venkateswara College, had an amusing experience; "I had to run around the college with a basket in my hand asking everyone to fill it with grass."
There are also cases where freshers sometimes emerge from the first day of college feeling humiliated.
A student of a south Delhi college says his seniors did not let him eat his dinner in the hostel because he refused to polish their shoes as part of ragging.
The practice is particularly fierce in residential colleges, where seniors feel emboldened to rag juniors late into the night. That could mean washing clothes or writing the assignments of seniors. But it can sometimes snowball into beating, mental harassment, manual work and sexual abuse.
In 1998, some senior girls of Mumbai's Medical College sexually molested two girls. Also, three freshers were reportedly asked to strip naked by some senior students of Ramjas College in New Delhi last year.
Ragging has been banned by the government, but the practice continues unabated. To avoid ragging from turning ugly police teams are posted at mainly co-educational colleges for the first few days of each session.
One of the guidelines issued in this regard says that misbehaviour on the part of students has to be checked within the institution and by teachers.
Hindu College of Delhi University has also taken preventive steps to avoid ragging such as placing sealed complaint boxes in all undergraduate colleges, especially those with hostels. Surprise inspection rounds are conducted by authorities to ensure that guests are not allowed in hostels during the initial weeks of the new session.
"We will set up control rooms around all colleges to prevent the practice of ragging, we are also making arrangements for security for both the north and south campuses in Delhi," said an official of Students' Welfare Association, Delhi University.
For many parents ragging has become a topic of great concern. "I will be accompanying my child to college on the first day," said a worried parent.
Several students, especially those who have been through ragging, however, feel it is a way to break the ice and make new friends. "It's a medium through which we get to know about the nature of new students and also get to judge their patience," said Ms Sushmita Bose.
College student, Ms Parul Arora agreed. "I think it's a fine practice. After all, when you are entering a completely unfamiliar zone ragging helps make new friends and is also a medium to gain popularity." ---------------------------------------- The Navhind Times 23/6/03 ----------------------------------------
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