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Govt to ban ragging in educational institutes


Published : 13 Oct 2019 08:19 PM | Updated : 06 Sep 2020 11:07 AM

The government has planned to ban ragging, a kind of sick and spiteful culture that involves abuse, harassment and humiliation of entrants or junior students by the senior students, in all educational institutes across the country. The government has taken the decision following the intelligence agencies’ report on the severity and savagery of ragging culture in different universities and colleges. 

Intelligence agencies in their report also recommended ban on ragging culture, sources said. Among the educational institutes across the country, Jahangirnagar University is the worst place where the newly admitted students face horrific experience in name of ragging from the senior students and the horror of that experience haunts them in many cases forever.

Ragging has become a synonym off horror in many universities and colleges including Rajshahi University, Dhaka University, Jagannath University, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), Eden College, Khulna University, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology in Sylhet and Islamic University in Kushtia.

Ragging culture has also engulfed private universities, private medical colleges and colleges under National University. Beside cruel and ruthless physical and mental torture, offensive and obnoxious activities are also done in the name of ragging. At least 84 percent students of these universities and colleges are victim of ragging, reports of intelligence agencies said.

Intelligence agencies conducted survey on ragging in all educational institutes including colleges and universities across the country in 2018. The survey shows that although 84 percent of the students fell victim of ragging they did not complain to the authorities of their educational institutes. 56 percent students said that they were forced to take part in the ragging while 90 percent students said ragging is extremely cruel, merciless and inhuman. However, 70 percent fresher students did not make any comment about ragging fearing more harassment from the senior students, the report said.

Physical and mental torture in name of ragging includes sitting and standing alternately holding one’s own ears, beating with rod, plunging in water, make one jump from high place, force to climb a tall tree, burning with lighted cigarette, make to walk on building cornice, force to drink alcohol or smoke marijuana, sexual harassment, measuring a filed or big room with a matchstick, make nude in front of all, force to do sexual drama, measuring different organs of the body, force to lick others saliva and using abusive words, among many other such sick, cruel and inhuman acts.

Many students left campus being unable to bear the trauma of the severity of ragging. Many of them lost mental balance and tried to commit suicide. On the other hand, some ragging victims become vindictive and plans for more ragging with the fresher students in future. Senior students involved in torturing new students in name of ragging are mainly members of ruling party’s student wing. So it has become more difficult to protect newly admitted students from ragging.

Cruel and merciless torture in name of ragging is a criminal offence. Only expelling one from the educational institute for this offence is not enough. This should be brought under criminal law and ensure exemplary punishment and only this way this evil culture can be stopped, an intelligence officer said. Now the government is planning the ways and means of banning ragging culture from all the educational institutes of the country, sources said.