UGC must formulate policy to stop ragging at public universities

In the absence of a policy to act as a deterrent, ragging goes on unchecked at some public universities, as the authorities concerned seem indifferent to the need for curbing the menace. As ragging can lead to trauma, which can have long-term effects, many countries have banned such attitudes in educational institutions.
Ragging is a term used for the so-called “initiation ritual” practised at higher educational institutions. It involves psychological and physical torture — abuse, humiliation and harassment — of fresher’s or juniors by senior students, and takes a heavy toll on the victims. Academics and rights activists have long been calling for an anti-ragging policy for the universities with a clear definition of the word “ragging” and strict punishment for the offenders. This will help the university authorities to act quickly in case of such incidents.
However, the University Grants Commission (UGC) is to formulate any such policy. As a result, offenders, mostly from pro-ruling party student body Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) continue to rag freshers at different campuses. We know, taking advantage of seat crises at halls, university BCL activists “arrange” seats for freshers at “gono rooms”, where they rag the entrants. Gono rooms are run by the pro-ruling party student body to accommodate mostly freshers who could not get a seat at the hall. The issues of seat crisis and violence, bullying, ragging, sexual harassment, and other crimes by BCL student bodies on campuses are all linked.
As the hall authorities do not play their due roles, students don’t get seats based on needs or even merit. As a result, the freshers become hostage to the whims of the pro-ruling party student body. According to the UGC, 55 per cent of the students at Dhaka University do not have access to hall facilities due to the seat crisis. The situation is the same for 76 per cent of the students at Islamic University, 78 per cent at Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, and 68 per cent at Hajee Mohammad Danesh Science and Technology University.
Educationists said, ragging often leads to devastating consequences that include trouble concentrating on studies and absenteeism. Ragging can lead to trauma, which can have long-term effects. A victim of ragging may have severe levels of anxiety as well as post-traumatic stress disorder. We are asking for making law, banning all illegal activities in the name of student politics and dilly dally governance of university authorities.