Mahadi Hasan Badhon with DU, RU, CU & SAU Correspondents
Many public university students’ dreams of obtaining higher degrees are fading away due to physical and mental tortures, harassment and humiliation by seniors and severe accommodation crisis. Physical and mental tortures, harassment and humiliation by seniors and severe accommodation crisis are fading away many public university students’ dream of obtaining higher degrees.
Campus sources said students of country’s most of the public universities start to face the maltreatment and problems soon after they get admitted to the higher educational institutions. Psychologists say many of the students facing humiliation become demoralised in the very first year of their campus life, the most important period for a student to build the foundation of the higher education.
They say the maltreatment and harassment sometimes compel students to drop out of classes and lead them to drug addiction and other criminal activities, jeopardising their higher education. Bangladesh Post Chittagong University correspondent talked to at least 20 students of the university who were dropped out of the first-year classes and finally failed to complete the graduation.
“Alas! I couldn’t realise how the first year flies away. Now I can realise that I lost the most precious time in my life. I can’t recover my loss anymore,” said one of them. Several students said mental torture, humiliation and threats by seniors forced them to join different political groups and get actively involved in politics which impeded their achieve degrees.
“The victims of ragging suffer maximum in forms of depression, isolation, demoralisation that may result in psychological trauma, including anxiety, chronic depression, or post-traumatic stress disorder,” said psychologist Prof Dr Mahmudur Rahman. “In extreme cases, the victim can even commit suicide due to the mental pressures,” Mahmudur, who is the president of Bangladesh Clinical Psychology Association (BCPA), told Bangladesh Post.
‘Ragging culture’ came to the fore after the gruesome murder of Abrar Fahad, a second-year student of the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) on October 7 last year. A huge number of university students burst into outcry against ragging after the killing which promoted the BUET authorities to expel 26 students for their alleged involvement in murder.
Talking to Bangladesh Post, Fuad Ahmed, a third-year student of International Relations department at Dhaka University said, “We want a safe university campus where we can speak out without any kind of fear.” He said students do not want to hear any news on torture, ragging news in DU dormitories anymore.
Hasnat Hero, a Master’s students of Mass Communication and Journalism of Dhaka University said, “Accommodation problem is the major hindrance to students acquiring knowledge.” He urged the authorities concerned to solve the crisis as soon as possible. At Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University (SAU), newly admitted students are being forced to attend different meetings [hall meetings, faculty meetings and regional meetings] which students dub ‘a system mental torture’.
Seeking anonymity a SAU student told Bangladesh Post, “We are forced to attend every single meeting where seniors search our faults and criticize us badly. They call us at night and torture us mentally.” SAU Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Kamal Uddin Ahamed told Bangladesh Post, “After hearing the meeting room culture, we formed a monitoring committee led by Pro-VC. Now, the situation has changed a lot.”
Our Rajhshai University (RU) correspondent talked to a large number of general students most of whom want a ragging-free environment where there will be a good and friendly relation between seniors and juniors. Former DU VC AAMS Arefin Siddique told Bangladesh Post, “The first year is the most important period of campus life of a university student in achieving higher degree. Ragging and forced involvement in different groups obviously disrupts their education.”
Replying to a query, he said ragging can be prevented by strictly applying existing rules and regulations of the university. About accommodation crisis, he said, “We have to establish more residential halls to solve this problem. Many students are staying in halls even after completing their education. It’s one of the reasons of accommodation crisis for new students.”
Psychologist Mahmudur Rahman termed ragging a big crime. He said, “Ragging must be banned from all educational institutions. It is violation of human rights. The persons who commit ragging must be brought under law.” He also suggested filing defamation case against those committing ragging.
