Wednesday, September 8, 2010

The One with the Scandal.

Since I am immensely intimidated by the preceding posts, that speak of a plethora of national and international issues, I shall turn homeward and talk about something that has not only moved me legally (read: superficially) but also psychologically.

The Ragging Scandal, yes (Words have been randomly
italicized to give it the sense of importance it is actually receiving).

Legally, my knowledge on ragging is close to nada. All I know is that following a Supreme Court order, a Committee presided by Dr. Raghavan who was, as far as my knowledge goes, an ex-CBI director. This initiative was taken by the Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD). There was also a landmark decision by the SC on the issue. Both the Committee report and the judgment have been sent to us following the scandal. I have chosen to write this post instead of reading up the documents (but does that make this post less relevant?).

According to the Apex Court in the ‘Vishwa Jagriti Mission’ matter, ragging is -

“Any disorderly conduct whether by words spoken or written or by an act which has the effect of teasing, treating or handling with rudeness any other student, indulging in rowdy or undisciplined activities which causes or is likely to cause annoyance, hardship or psychological harm or to raise fear or apprehension thereof in a fresher or a junior student or asking the students to do any act or perform something which such student will not in the ordinary course and which has the effect of causing or generating a sense of shame or embarrassment so as to adversely affect the physique or psyche of a fresher or a junior student.”

Now if we apply this definition to the incident that occurred, there wouldn't be an ounce of teasing, treating or handling with rudeness, indulging in undisciplined activities or causing anything that may be attributed to feelings of fear, annoyance, hardship or psychological trauma. The incident allegedly involved a group of seniors participating in what the courts/ university authority would describe as ragging but I shall refer to as a breaking-the-ice with a few freshers. What this consisted of was something like an introductory, friendly chitchat. Allegations involve, treating these freshers badly, using derogatory language and gestures (Is bowing down even a derogratory gesture? We were made to do it during our orientation with our seniors when our old faculty was present), and taking videos of the freshers' dancing.

According to the authority, an introduction (asking names, place of residence, hobbies and the like) is mental trauma. Reader dear, pray, do you get cold feet when someone asks you your name, or do you develop a chronic form of PTSD when you are asked about your hobbies?

Now, I'll tell you what isn't mental trauma. Being eve-teased in front of the hostel (that was eons away from civilization and was situated in the most unsafe and isolated campus) and being blamed for inviting eve-teasers and bringing eve-teasing upon myself (by the warden) was not mental trauma. The high-handedness of the administration is preposterous. They are making a mountain of a molehill right now, but when there were several security issues concerning the girls, our pleas fell on deaf ears.

Moreover, whatever happened to the Rule of Law? Has audi alteram partem gone for a toss? They have heard out only just one party and already passed judgment! This is nothing but being arbitrary, unreasonable and discriminatory. A travesty of justice in a law school, eh? Quite a paradox. "We can only give opinions that there has been a gross miscarriage of justice," says Indira Jaising in an article of hers, and I couldn't agree more.

P.S. - I might have been rather jabberwocky but this isn't to be dismissed as a sporadic burst of rage/angst against the authority. And shall I be subjected to an exclusive dance with the DISCO now that I have gone out of my way and used my freedom of speech and expression?

- Deya Bhattacharya.

2 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. I tried very hard to resist the temptation of speaking on the aforesaid post. I failed, which is evident from the deletion of my previous comments. I completely agree with what the author of the aforesaid post has to say. The recent interference of the management in the student affairs has embezzled any hopes of bringing an end to the nomadic behavior of the university management towards the law students. At this point I would like to resurrect certain forgotten wounds. I still remember the B-TECH experience which is shared by many law students of this university. This raises two very pertinent questions for all those people in white collar management of this university “wasn’t that ragging” and if not why. It seems the university has forgotten its Gandhian Ideologies and Philosophies. If the university has any plans of living up to its ambitious objectives for the Law School, then it has to curb down its preferential treatment with immediate effect. The disco has started playing loud music. It should be conscious of the fact that people can book them for nuisance.

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