Eradicating twin evils on campuses

Eve-teasing & ragging

The freshers who have successfully completed their course in high schools enter the portals of the campus of degree colleges and junior colleges. In the past, the seniors while welcoming the juniors, resort to treats and the students of either sex will have very nice time and have fun and frolic. However, the practice turned into ragging which has become a nightmare for juniors and their parents. Recently a girl in Hyderabad took sleeping pills and died unable to bear ragging in the colleges.

Rihiteswari, a B Arch student in Nagarjuna University, committed suicide and whole campus was vitiated with bewilderment. The parents are afraid of sending their wards to study in cities, or join universities or stay in hostels. Very sensitive boys and girls will not even inform their parents about the ragging menace, but resort to extreme acts of taking lives. Young students, after passing school enter the portals of the colleges with hope, determination and outlook.

But they become disillusioned because of the threat of eve teasing and the fear of ragging which is alien to our culture. In 1992, a High Court Judge wanted the Tamilnadu government to introduce legislation to stop ragging, but nobody bothered till the murder of one Navukkarasu from Annamalai University campus. The victim was the son of the Vice Chancellor of Madras University and the State government banned ragging in colleges and universities. Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh followed suit in banning ragging.

Through ragging is banned in Andhra Pradesh, some seven students were suspended by Sri Venkateswara University authorities recently for indulging in the heinous practice. At a recent meeting of all the Vice Chancellors in Andhra Pradesh at Tirupati, they discussed how to put an end to ragging. The then Chief Justice of Andhra Pradesh, Justice Prabha Shankar Misra, had issued guidelines to curb ragging. A public interest petition made the Bench and the Chief Justice to issue guidelines.

All educational institutions should constitute parents committee to supervise the conduct of students from time to time. Any students indulging in ragging should be suspended until called upon to answer the charges levelled against him. All students should be given identity cards while celebrating the college day, sports day and the hostel day. Principals should be in the know of things in the hostel.

According to Jawaharlal Nehru, our first Prime Minister: “if the Universities discharge their functions properly, there will not arise such a situation. The system is deteriorating from bad to worse and the universities are not able to function properly.” Our culture has faded out and the values are lost. Ragging and eve teasing are nothing but a symptomatic outburst of the failing standards in our educational system.

Every institution should have a parent-pupil association. Every colleges and university should have a counselling center with voluntary and service minded people to advise the student population. The girls are not ‘abalas’ now and they are co-equals now. The youth of today are bright. They are organising ‘Model parliaments’ and also teaching lessons to the present day politicians. They can be and need to be sensitised about the twin evils of ragging and eve teasing in campuses.

Eve teasing is a western concept. The western society never treated women alike the Indian society where the women is worshipped as a “Goddess or Sakthi Swarupini.” Eve teasing and ragging flout the yard sticks that decide the cultural refinement of the Indian society. Introduction of Indian heritage and culture at the degree level is meant to inculcate respect for women and gender equality. (The author is a former Speaker of Andhra Pradesh. The article is an extract from his book ‘How High Is Higher Education Today? : A Critical Appraisal’)

By Dr Agarala Eswar Reddi