Ragging must be made a non-bailable offence

What was supposed to be harmless fun where junior students could befriend their senior counterparts at educational institutions has taken an ugly turn now — at least in India!

During the beginning of every academic year, there are scores of ragging cases that come to light from every nook and corner of the nation. The act may be as simple as making someone dance or as humiliating as making them strip! Let's take the recent case of what happened at NIT college in Warangal where junior boys were made to perform a strip dance. Such acts are in certainly not in good taste and simply unacceptable. The merry-making is slowly turning into a nightmare for many freshers who enter college with dreams and aspirations with their parents spending a fortune on them in the hope that their children will be empowered with education.

 Interestingly, such incidents happen in professional colleges where students who are serious about academics are said to seek admission. However, there are also some students who get admitted for the fun of it — these are the influential lot. Thus, students who indulge in it know that they can roam around scot-free despite committing the most heinous of crimes. This is why most ragging incidents don't come to light. The culprits go scot-free, while the victims die a silent death!
In the highly improbable event of being caught, they are suspended for some time, or in the worst case, they might be expelled.
 Each year, there are cases of students being beaten to death, killed or even humiliating incidents that drive the weak-minded to end their lives.
 Of late, ragging incidents are being reported from reputed colleges which are thought to be prestigious and decent.
 What one must not forget is the fact that Supreme Court can only pass an order, a legislation. But ultimately, the onus lies on the college to protect their students from being victimised. And courts cannot be blamed for lack of implementation as only extreme cases reach the Court's notice that too because the media happened to accidentally stumble upon the video (as it happened with the Warangal incident).
 Thus a lot needs to be done at the college level — the educational institute can impose stringent laws. Even better if the controlling authority (like UGC/AICTE) that provides accreditation or recognition to institutions to pass some regulations in favour of students. The law has to be so strict that the colleges that fail to comply must be stripped of its affiliation. If colleges are made accountable, then one might expect results. Ragging can be made a non-bailable offence. Bullying the weak is in no way acceptable — this is the message the governing bodies must send out to colleges.Colleges that have turned into torture chambers must be reformed into fearless places of learning and fun.

-Observer@sakshipost