Ragging, ‘messing with wrong generation’ - EDITORIAL

In our country unfortunately, ragging has morphed from its earliest days as a form of a little fun, to bullying, to extreme levels of violence and even sexual abuse. More unfortunately, it has also taken a malignant form where new entrants are subject to psychological and physical torture as well.

Just a few days ago (September 4), students of the faculty of Arts at the University of Peradeniya -belonging to a student union subservient to a particular political party - surrounded and mercilessly attacked students of the Law faculty who were opposed to ragging of new entrants. The Alumni of the Department of Law condemned the attack, in which two male and two female students from the Faculty of Law, were hospitalized with injuries sustained during the atttack.

The same day, a fourth year student, also from the Peradeniya University hostel went missing. A few days later (September 21), his body was discovered floating in the Mahaweli River. Sources on the campus allege the student was driven to suicide. A note written by the student said he had committed suicide. Probably under the strain of ragging. Hours before the body was discovered, the police said they arrested three students from the Arts faculty in connection with the attack on Law students, which occurred at the university canteen. The university administration said they had decided to suspend three students.

According to Dr. Anula Wijesundara - Consultant physician and former President of the Sri Lanka Medical Association (SLMA) - ragging in government campuses has caused over 2,000 students selected for universities to have abandoned their careers. At least 18 students have committed suicide to escape ragging. She added many students have become partly or totally paralysed, attempting to escape from aggressors while hundreds suffer from depression, anxiety and stress syndromes.

The September violence at the Peradeniya campus is therefore not the first time the students belonging to a particular student organization have been involved in committing violence against new entrants or against those who refuse to bow down to their demands or collaborate with them. Several student lives have been sacrificed at the altar of brutes who desecrate the sanctity of government universities.

Two questions arise, first; why were only three of the attackers suspended or arrested? Videos of the attack continue to be widely circulated and the attackers can be clearly identified. The second is; why the leadership of Inter University Student Federation (ISUF) -- the largest student organization in Lanka’s government universities -- not condemned this violence perpetrated on innocent students?

It is time they call for these hooligans to be disciplined. Ragging is after all prohibited by the ‘Educational Institutes Act’. Immediate stern action needs to be taken if this type of continuing violence is to be eliminated from government universities. The ISUF leadership are known members/sympathizers of the ‘Peratugami organization’ - a breakaway of a once left-leaning political party which controlled the largest student federation in government universities.

This organization, through its steadfast refusal to condemn and call for an end to organized violence in the campus under the guise of ‘ragging’, is by its very silence condoning the continuation of violence. We remember, not long ago, this self-same ‘Peratugami’ clique demanded political change in the country. They demanded the resignation of the president, premier and called for an end to political violence via a clever coining of the catch phrase ‘they messed with the wrong generation’, in a bid to attract young people.

Today they (ISUF/Peratugami) claim political victimization and harassment by the forces of law over ‘incidents of violence’ committed during the campaign to evict corrupt political rulers. If the leadership of the ISUF/Peratugami are serious in changing systems of corruption and violence which is endemic in this country, they should start at their own base - to end the reign of fear imposed via the student organization in the government campuses. 

 
At the same, university authorities need to come down hard on the miscreants. The Vice chancellor of the Ruhunu University showed how this could be achieved when he sacked 17 students, who engaged in ragging. They were charged, remanded and subsequently expelled from the university. While the ‘Peratugami’ today mourn their loss of democratic rights, we recall some of those sacrificed at the altar of ‘ragging’ below: