And what is a "ragging scare"?

Who's who? Guess, guess!

You have heard of a bomb scare, but what is a ragging scare? The Pune edition of the Indian Express reports today: Ragging scare at SP College, student told to leave hostel.

A first-year science student of Sir Parsurambhau (SP) College was asked by the authorities to leave the college hostel with immediate effect on Sunday, following a ‘ragging’ scare. However, college authorities termed the incident as a ‘one-to-one’ dispute between two students of the same batch. ‘‘There was no ragging as such,’’ clarified college principal Madhav Pendse.

You will find this to be a standard answer of the 'authorities' of any college. Not only are they afraid of spoiling the 'reputation' of their institution, but also the law. Maharashtra has an anti-ragging law which states that should an institution fail to curb ragging, its principal or director can also be arrested!

The incident brought on anxious moments for college officials, when Bharatiya Vidyarthi Sena (BVS) activists descended on the college hostel and allegedly manhandled the ‘offender’ Nitesh Bharadwaj.

Wo! Very rarely is student unionism in India put to good use. But this manhandling business is not acceptable. The rule of the law must prevail. Politically aligned student unions can at times make matters worse; in this case, as being champions of a parochial Mahrashtrian cause. The student should have gone to the nearest police station.

Notice how the paper is concerned about "anxious moments for college officials" and not the anxious moments that the first-year student and his family must have faced.

It all happened when Sunil Mali, also a first-year science student, approached the BVS complaining of physical and mental harassment by Bharadwaj for the last few months. Mali claimed that his pleas to college authorities, including the hostel rector, failed to evoke any response.

"Also a first-year science student"? Which other first-year science student has the report talked about so far?

A group of BVS activists descended on the hostel on Sunday and allegedly manhandled Bharadwaj, while demanding that the college should act against him for ragging.

There is no smoke without fire.

The activists returned after Pendse assured a proper inquiry. ‘‘We have asked Bharadwaj to leave the college hostel immediately. Sunil’s elder brother too approached us and sought our permission to take Sunil home,’’ Pendse said.

It seems the fresher and his family are concerned about his safety. But did you notice that the first paragraph of the report had said, "A first-year science student of Sir Parsurambhau (SP) College was asked by the authorities to leave the college hostel." Now they write that the senior, Bharadwaj, was asked to leave. So confusing yaar. Do the reporter and the editor know what they are talking about?

He maintained that ragging cannot go on for such long periods, as alleged. Though, he said, there was a simmering dispute between Mali and Bharadwaj but none of the kind involving physical harm.

Ragging is outlawed sir, not just ragging that includes "physical harm". Are you waiting for a limb or two to be broken before you get your act together? And ragging can indeed go on for the entire academic year (even the annual exams!) in the slightly more barbaric hostels.

So why does the paper call it a "ragging scare", thus implying that there was no ragging? Is it that hard to find out if ragging was really taking place in that hostel?

By contrast, here is a more responsible report. This one makes no mention of the student activists 'manhandling' the senior in question.

S P student told to quit hostel for ragging

By a Staff Reporter

Sakal Herald, Pune:

S P College yesterday told a first-year BSc student to vacate his hostel room and ordered a probe against three others for ragging a first-year BA student.

According to a complaint lodged by BA student Sunil Mali with the college authorities, BSc students Nitesh Bharadwaj, Pranav Kanitkar, Chintamani Umbrani and BA student Shrinil Goswami harassed him mentally and physically since January 1. He alleges that the four used abusive language against him and sometimes, even manhandled him under the influence of alcohol.

Mali used to stay in room number 16 (ground floor) of the hostel on college premises, while Bharadwaj used to stay in room 105, which is on the second floor. Mali, who hails from Vadgaon, Usmanabad district, joined the college in his second term. He alleges that hostel rector Dr Dilip Sheth turned a deaf ear to his frequent complaints regarding ragging, forcing him to approach Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Sena on the eve of his final paper today. He says he was finding it difficult to concentrate on his studies due to the constant harassment.

Sena members, including Vice-President Prakash Dhamdhere and Ganesh Satpute, met hostel rector Dilip Sheth and college principal Madhavrao Pendse following Mali's complaint and got him to take action against Bharadwaj and the others.

Pendse told Bharadwaj to leave hostel immediately and ordered an inquiry against the others to ascertain their role in harassment. Bharadwaj will be, however, allowed to take his exam starting today, but would not be allowed admission the next year.

Students staying in the hostel told the Herald that it was basically a war of words between a Maharashtrian (Mali) and a non-Maharashtrian (Bharadwaj, who is from Bihar). They, however, could not explain why the same did not apply to Goswami, who hails from Assam, and Kanitkar and Umbrani, who are Maharashtrians. College authorities refused comment on the issue.

Unlike the Express, this reporter of the Sakal Herald seems to have taken some pains to find out what was going on. The innumerable colleges in the city of Pune face this problem every year: Maharashtrians are accused of being very intolerant of non-Mahrashtrians; the latter often have a cultural problem settling in.

Students said Bharadwaj and Mali got acquainted while watching the common TV and using common bathrooms. “They used give stares to each other whenever they used to bump into each other,” they added.

The rector said he was not aware of the gravity of the harassment and had ignored it thinking it was routine. He agreed that Mali lodged complaints with him on a couple of occasions, but he dismissed them as "such small rivalries among students are common".

You are clearly not fit for your job, Mr Rector!

“He was staying alone in room 16. After his first complaint, we paired him with a BEd student for support. But it proved of no use,” Sheth said, adding, "The harassment continued.”

The problem was not in his staying alone but in Nitesh Bharadwaj and others harassing him. It seems you didn't want to kick those seniors out of the hostel.

See our commentary on The Times of India's reportage of this incident. Also have a look at the Sakal Herald's follow up story and editorial on the issue.

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