Ragging ! The Shameful Scourge Of Universities Needs To Be Confronted Head On And Outlawed!
Posted on December 22nd, 2011
Insight By Sunil Kumar
Dec.22nd 2011Something the Brits left behind as a disgusting vestige of a damning tradition regardless of how the pundits view it ! It may be popular in Britain at the highest seats of learning which nevertheless is nothing to be proud of, a total shame and in the case of Sri Lanka where the practise is distorted to the point of involving criminalities, obscenities and lack of respect for humanity at times which of course is not the case in Britain where the practise ir more subtle. But in Sri Lanka it needs an abrupt termination with severe penalties for those who inflict it on new students and are responsible for huge psychological damage on freshmen / women students at universities who enter Unversities to further their education and not be victims of some cockamanie bourgeoisie practise that the British tolerate in their country and popularised in Sri Lanka during their occupation. It is simply a no no and intolerable! Who wants it anyway?
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ When the students of the Peradeniya University recently appealed to President Mahinda Rajapaksa to intervene to stop brutal ragging, they have been very justified in their request and hopefully the President will clamp down hard on the practise, totally do away with it and restore sanity to the Universuty system which is already teetering on the bring of a major breakdown with student unrest, agitation, lawlessnessas well as political interference attempting to make university students pawns to hamper the progress of the nation initiated by the present administration where its Education Minister needs huge acollades for his tireless and concerted efforts to restore order and sanity to the Education system and in particular the Universities.
The following media release attests to the distinct felt need to eradicate the practise of ragging at Universities and elsewhere in other seats of learning as it has nothing to do with the objectives of higher education.
“Addressing a press conference in Colombo, an Arts Faculty student of the University, Yukthi Ekadeera said that the Ministry of Higher Education and University administrationƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s efforts to stop ragging, which takes place especially in university hostels, had been in vain.
He said that 150 students of the Peradeniya Arts Faculty had given up studies due to severe ragging during the past three years.
According to our information, 52, 39 and 59 students gave up university education in 2008, 2009 and 2010 respectively due to ragging,” Ekadeera said.
He said that those students did not complain to either the university administration or the University Grants Commission for fear of reprisal.
A student has been admitted to the Kandy Hospital due to ragging but now student leaders were demanding the release of four undergraduates who were arrested over the incident, Ekadeera said.
According to the statistics of the medical centre, 115, 100 and 185 students had been treated during the so-called rag season in 2008, 2009 and 2010 respectively, Ekadeera said.
Second year arts faculty student Sanjeewa Bandara said that he too had undergone torture at the hands of his seniors in the name of ragging and called for an end to the inhuman practice.” which indeed it is, particularly in a nation known as the Resplendent Land whose resplendency will be lost if the trend in ragging continues and students are subjected to some of the attrocities and brutalities involved by senior thugs who call themselves students!
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Case in point~ during my days at the Institute of Technology Katubedda now University of Sri Lanka, Moratuwa my first day of attendance is remembered as a day in the history of the Institute where my batch was coralled by seniors who attempted to rag us but we stood upto them threatening to fight them to the last man if a single hand was laid on any of us or any ragging attempted and the seniors backed of as we were about a 100 strong and one of my batchmates with known links to the local police made it very clear that he would notify them in case of any ragging! The Moratuwa Police at the time was headed by one of Sri Lanka’s toughest officers, a personal friend of his who was later killed on the job by an underworld gang ! That year there was no recorded ragging at the Institute whatsoever albeit perhaps an unrecorded incident and a little known fact which the Board Of Trustees were said to have approved within the confines of the Board Room but never expedited as something which needed continuity!
It does today!, to be confronted head on and outlawed !
December 22nd, 2011 at 5:04 pm
SUNIL ! Your views are symbolic of the thoughts of all Sri Lankans on the issue of RAGGING. CERTAINLY, IT SHOULD BE CONFRONTED HEAD ON AND OUTLAWED.
We cannot blame the Dons in Universities. IT IS THE MINISTER OF EDUCATION WHO HAS TO TAKE THE BULL BY THE HORNS. We do not need a breed of SADISTS coming out of the Universities to pollute the Peace and Tranquility of the life, of all Sri Lankans. Enough is enough.
RAGGING SHOULD BE STOPPED IN ALL ITS WIERD FORMS, RIGHT NOW, TODAY.
BAN ALL STUDENT UNIONS THAT ARE POLITICALLY MOTIVATED.
BAN ALL POLITICAL PARTIES FROM HARNESSING STUDENTS TO SADISTICALLY REVOLT, TO FIT THEIR AGENDA.
RAGGING SHOULD BE TREATED AS A CRIMINAL OFFENCE, AND THE LAW SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO TAKE ITS COURSE, IN HANDLING ALL OFFENDERS.
ANY STUDENT CAUGHT RAGGING SHOULD BE SACKED FROM THE UNIVERSITY, IRRESPECTIVE OF SENIORITY, AND SHOULD BE BANNED FROM APPLYING FOR RE-ENTRY, FOR TWO YEARS.
HIS EXCELLENCY, THE PRESIDENT MUST INTERVENE, AND TOTALLY BAN RAGGING, IN SRI LANKA. NEVER AGAIN.
December 22nd, 2011 at 8:49 pm
May be we should bring the bullies to Gall face green and public flogging will do some justice…
December 22nd, 2011 at 11:28 pm
Good one sunil at the correct time. I agree with Susantha wholeheartedly. Ragging should be banned completely. This whole thing is the work of hooligans from JVP not anyone else. These criminals who waged war against the Governments in 1971 and 1989 were trying again to distrupt the peaceful atmosphere in our Motherland. We should not allow these bullies and criminals to take the law in to their own hands and destroy the lives of innocent people.
The President must interfere and do something urgently if not many innocent will die. He should be tough with these bankrupt party which does not have any backing from the majority of the public. This is the time to ban their activities and allow our countrymen to live in peace and help the Government to carry on their development activities around the country. Daily occuring of protests and agiations around the cities disturbing the peace and day to day lives of the public should be stopped and those who destroy Government and public properties must be severly dealt with without any pardon or excuse. Majority of the good children must rally together fearlesly and fight with these criminals head on and help the public and the Government to eradicate Ragging once and for all. Parents too should get together and help in this matter because these are their children and they should protect them from harm. My view is ban these politically motivated unions and cleaned up the universities from these criminals who have failed in their studies and harming the innocent children unmercifully. Shame to hear the stories of the victims and feel sad when no one take action to stop these barbarians. BAN RAGGING AND ARREST THE TROUBLEMAKERS AND PUT THEM BEHIND BARS FOR GOOD. DONT WORRY ABOUT THE SO CALLED INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY.THIS IS OUR COUNTRY AND IT BELONGS TO GOOD CITIZENS NOT FOR CRIMINALS,BULLIES,DRUG LORDS AND CORRUPT POLITICIANS. Mr.President take action immediately and urgently.
December 23rd, 2011 at 12:07 am
We have become a sadistic society.
The ‘seniors’ were the juniors last year, who resented the ‘ragging’ in third turn. Did their parents firmly request them not to get involved in the rag? I doubt very much. I am happy as long as it is not my child could have been the attitude.
The children are our children, Sri Lanka’s children. They are our future. They will take the country over and run the country.
No wonder we have created a ruthless society and don’t complain when they neglect the old.
Please remember charity should begin at home.
The children are a reflection of the parents.
December 23rd, 2011 at 1:19 am
Only one way to end this. Long prison terms for convicted raggers will solve this problem forever. Lets us say minimum ten years. Prison is a good place for them to try out their ragging tactics.
Sadly, free education has contributed to ragging. Sri Lankans have no value put on to education. Generations have come to regard education as a right. It is a privilege. No country in this planet would give University education free. Lets start charging for every degree. That will put an end to ragging.
December 23rd, 2011 at 8:36 am
Ther word “ragging” is the problem. It is violence by one person against another person and rules of law should apply to these students and others who coommit these crimes and who assists these criminals.
Just because these violence activities are the results of any tradition, it should not excuse the culprits.
These incidents occurs in higher educational institutes is no reason not to apply the laws of the land.
December 23rd, 2011 at 11:11 am
Mr Pethiyagoda’s “Codswallop” needs responding with ridicule!
He sounds lihe a furtive sympathiser who has tried subtleties of wordplay in an attempt to justify what he condones but calling those in agreemment with the gist of this item, the banning using exreme measures the scourge of ‘Ragging’ where in his opinion there could be anarchy and lawlessness in all society which is almost an encouragement to these damnable types! The minister of Education as well as the Presodent has already ackmowledged the need to confront and outlaw ragging which seems to have gone miles over Mr.Pethiyagoda’s head and huff and puff until blue as he might is not going to away the remedial action which will be taken.
To Mr Christie who says the laws of the land need not be applied to what is tantamount to criminal activity in must be said, tolerating the raggers is an encouragement which will inspire even greater problems in the long run.Disrupting, outlawing and banning them is the only remedy and It’s good to see a few sensible opinions on this rather than the myopia exhibited by some who have the nerve to oppose the concept of confrontation of the raggers!
December 23rd, 2011 at 11:37 am
SUNIL MAHATTAYA ! Iam happy that you saw the imbeciles way of thinking through his moronic brain. HIS JARGON IS REAL CODSWALLOP NO DOUBT, AND IS ALL STERCUS TAURI.
December 23rd, 2011 at 4:10 pm
Laws against violence should apply betond the walls of academic institutions. The Island nation has laws aginast violence perperated by an individual or by a group against another.
At the same time the countrie’s educated and those to be educated should be educated to understand that violence or non violent aggression is criminal.
Another thing is to empower the weak to stand up to the already setablised powerful within academic walls.
To that end governments policy to provide leadership training to university entrants is commendable.
December 23rd, 2011 at 4:19 pm
‘Ragging’ is a symptom of sadism by one group toward another. Unfortunately, it has been inherited from British colonial practices and past Brit colonies such as India (check internet – there have even been deaths in India due to ragging and the President herself is acting on stopping it), & Sri Lanka suffer from it. Time to throw open the real reasons to students and that might act as a deterrent.
December 24th, 2011 at 2:55 pm
I wholeheartedly agree with Christie. The word RAGGING is a problem. It hides the criminal nature of these sadistic thugs. It gives respectability to heinous crimes. These are some acts done in Sri Lankan Universities in the past. These should be punishable as criminal acts.
1. Being stripped naked and made to run.
2. Be led on all fours and made to bark like dogs.
3. Dropping trousers and showing private parts.
4. Simulating sexual acts and groping female students.
5. Doing private errands to senor students.
Who wants to fund education of these perverts. Long prison terms is a viable answer.
December 26th, 2011 at 9:32 am
In America, which was also a colony of the British, ‘ragging’ is called ‘Hazing’. Several deaths of students have occurred there due to this practice, which also originated from British universities etc.