[Reader-list] The law is an ass. Or is it?

[Stop Ragging Campaign]

The legalities and illegalities that shape the discourse of ragging in a 
hostel community: Why the law is not an ass

Having banned "dance bars", Maharashtra's deputy chief minister RR Patil 
wants to plant Intelligence Bureau spies in college hostels across 
Maharashtra's college hostels. Such an extreme step is likely to result in a 
complex mix of power equations that is sure to backfire. Consider the number 
of 'authorities' that would be involved in such a scenario: the 'senior', 
the 'seniors' (signifying the entire hostel community), the hostel 
resident-cum-IB agent, the warden and principal, the local police (with whom 
an FIR would have to be lodged in any eventuality, even if the crime is 
investigated by the state IB), the district administration, the intelligence 
sleuths, local politicians, the ministry of education and finally, Shri RR 
Patil. Wait, in extreme cases, even the University Grants Commission, the 
All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), the Union of India's 
Ministry of Human Resource Development could also step in. And then of 
course there are the courts. Of course, many of these will come into play 
only when there is a high-profile case that grabs media attention. 

The thought that his resentment against ragging could become a news story is 
very unnerving for a fresher, and also for the senior. On the other hand, 
many freshers are not aware of their legal rights and feel helpless. If the 
college authorities do not take the initiative of reaching out to freshers 
and asking them about ragging and encouraging them to speak up against it, 
freshers keep mum.

The hostel space has increasingly come under strict surveillance to curb 
ragging. In West Bengal, legal activist Tapas Bhanja has been filing 
successful PIL's not just against ragging but also against alcoholism and 
the circulation of pornography and drugs in hostels. 

If this continues like this, someone may soon come up with the idea of 
another RAF - the Ragging Action Force!

There is perhaps little need for so much panic. If hostel authorities want 
to curb ragging, they can easily do it. In all cases where a fresher may 
have filed an FIR or left the college or committed suicide - in ALL of these 
cases, I have found that the hostel authorities have been lacking in their 
duty of curbing ragging as defined by the Supreme Court order of 2001. The 
SC order says that all senior students and their parents be made to sign an 
undertaking that the student will not indulge in ragging. Even Delhi 
University hostels are not following this. So you can imagine how much it is 
being followed in the rest of the country. 

If the remedial measures recommended by the Supreme Court were applied in 
letter and spirit, there would be no ragging at all. This includes the 
setting-up of an anti-ragging cell comprising students, teachers and the 
local police officials. Another suggestion is to give out the warden's 
contact details in the prospectus. Yet another proposal is to hold such 
'cultural' events that would bring seniors and freshers close to each other. 



Complaint mechanism -

The problem with the Supreme Court judgement arises when it says that a 
fresher has to complain to the college warden / dean / principal *in 
writing*. If he does this and the college does not set-up an enquiry and 
punish the guilty, the college authorities can be hauled up by the 
University Grants Commission or the AICTE or the Ministry of HRD or the 
courts. 

However, freshers often want to complain anonymously. Or at least in 
confidence. So a verbal complaint with a request to maintain the fresher's 
anonymity should do the trick. However, if college authorities do not act 
upon it, the fresher cannot claim justice as he had not complained in 
writing. Even in anonymous complaints, the small world of a hostel space 
cannot hide secrets. The result is ostracisation and persistent harassment 
and bullying of the fresher, who may as well continue denying having 
'sneaked'. 

Even in an anonymous complaint, if a fresher names senior(s) who have been 
indulging in ragging, he gets identified as soon as disciplinary action is 
taken against the named seniors. The seniors know who they had ragged that 
harshly to evoke a complain, or which fresher was not being a sport while 
being ragged. Freshers therefore often don't want to name particular seniors 
- it is in any case ridiculous to target a few seniors as the number of 
those indulging in ragging is always very large. College authorities, 
however, insist that the fresher name a few seniors, and describe who did 
what. Suspending a few from the college and kicking them out of the hostel 
is the only way college authorities know of curbing ragging. They hesitate 
even to do that as the seniors get together and pressurise the college 
administration by ways such as a strike.

The medical directorate of the Andhra Pradesh government has found a novel 
solution to the problem: an online form to complaint against ragging. It is 
worth a look [link: 
http://gistnic.ap.nic.in/cgi-bin/gen1/genuph.cgi/?up=heal/dmerag.html ]. 
This effort has resulted in several successful complaints [link: 
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1040824/asp/nation/story_3666700.asp ] 
Whenever they receive a complaint, they inform the college authorities and 
swift action is taken.

The Stop Ragging Campaign aims at a similar online redressal approach. We 
have so far solved three cases wherein a fresher approached us and we wrote 
to his college without naming him, and the college administration pulled up 
its socks.

In IIT Kanpur in 2002, a fresher went outside the campus to shoot an 
anonymous email to the IIT Director. He did not want to use the Institute's 
computer as he could have been traced by his IP address. He created an email 
ID called voiceoffresher at rediffmail.com and wrote that the Director's claims 
about the Institute being world class were bogus as he found the same 
culture of expletives and abuse in IIT as he did in the rest of Kanpur. 
Describing the prevalent ragging scene, he told the Director that he was 
completely disappointed by IIT. The Director forwarded to email to the 
entire staff and students of IIT, sending a shiver down the spines of all 
raggers. Ragging declined immediately and the 'Voice of Fresher' was 
ridiculed in a skit later on. Nobody could ever identify the complainant

It's that simple, curbing ragging. And RR Patil wants the Intelligence 
Bureau to turn students into spies!


Evidence -

The Supreme Court order says that ragging complaints should be handled, so 
far as possible, within the college, by the college authorities. This makes 
it much easier for college authorities to act against erring seniors, 
because the legal requirements of 'evidence' do not have to be fulfilled. In 
some cases token disciplinary action is taken merely on the basis of a 
complaint. When harsh action such as suspension for the entire academic year 
or permanent expulsion from the hostel is to be taken, college authorities 
ask freshers to give their complaint in writing, setup an enquiry committee 
which hurriedly concurs, and swift disciplinary action is taken. If the 
matter goes to the police, the police often urges the college to settle it 
by itself. In a landmark judgement, the Kerala high court upheld the right 
of the Principal of a college to expel four students who had been found 
guilty of ragging by a college enquiry committee [link: 
http://stop-ragging.blogspot.com/2005/04/principal-vs-ps-anoop-ors-in-kerala.html
].

Accused students often cry foul about having become victims of a conspiracy, 
and conspiracy theories are readily provided. 

However, it is truly very difficult to provide evidence for the crime of 
ragging - evidence that could stand up in court. Often ragging does not 
involve even 'physical abuse' as we understand it: if a senior asks a 
fresher tom "strip", and the fresher does it, can you legally blame the 
senior? The fresher did it because he was threatened with violence and 
sexual abuse (albeit in vague terms, such as 'I'll f*** your happiness'.) 
The threat may be implicit. But the senior did not actually come forward and 
took off the fresher's clothes. The newspapers merely say the fresher was 
"forced to strip". 

Even in cases where a ragging murder has take place (such as Pon. Navarasu's 
murder allegedly by John David at the Annamalai university in 1996), the 
accused has been able to go scot free for want of evidence in the court: 
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/2001/10/09/stories/0409223w.htm

It is arguable, therefore, that colleges should have the autonomy to punish 
for ragging, as the Kerala high court has held.


Surveilance and privacy in the hostel space - 

Hostel authorities are compelled to implement pro-active surveillance of the 
hostel and even have 'spies' amongst students to know what is going on by 
way of ragging. Kirori Mal College in Delhi has over two dozen close circuit 
TV cameras to curb ragging!

The Stop Ragging Campaign's endorsement of the law of the land as an answer 
to ragging has many critics. Our critics have two problems: one, that 
law-enforcement agencies are themselves not above-board. One person wrote in 
asking how we could use the Supreme Court judgement considering what she 
called the SC's lop-sided orders in cases like Narmada and the Arundhati Roy 
contempt of court case. Our answer to this is that we could have problems 
with the law, but we cannot altogether do away with the law. The rule of law 
is a basic prerequisite of a civilized society where individual liberty is 
to be safeguarded - which is exactly what ragging is not.

-- 
www.stopragging.org <http://www.stopragging.org> | info at stopragging.org
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