The yelling of violence
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The recent ragging incident that shocked Kerala was the death of Siddharth at the Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (KVASU) at Pookode in Wayanad. After days of physical assault and mental torture, he was finally forced to give up all his ambitions and choose death. The brutal torture as usual was led by student leaders who had political obligations to eliminate ragging in colleges. It took more than a week for the information to come out as the teachers and police were so focused on covering up the incident out of fear of the students' 'future' and politics. Before Siddharth's burning memories have completed a year, here we are again, when the first-year students at the Kottayam government nursing college hostel have been subjected to similar brutality. They were the victims of heartbreaking physical beatings and mental torture for three months. Five senior students have now been arrested after the incident created a hue and cry.. With their political connections exposed, threats and extortion to keep the facts from coming out are rampant behind the scenes.
The ragging practices that take place in colleges are cruel and violent. How terrible it is that the cries of pain and the humiliating conditions of fellow students are celebrated with frenzied joy! How shocking it is that those who have decided to take care of patients as a means of livelihood and passion have the mentality to enjoy pain with joy! Elevenstudents were subjected to action in Kozhikode Medical College last week on a ragging complaint. If senior students, who should treat their fellow students with co-operation and compassion, become worshippers of violence, how merciless the future of the medical profession they serve will be. Such incidents that come out confirm that the new generation is becoming more addicted to violence and drugs. Recent reports indicate that the intensity of ragging has increased in Kerala of late. An investigation is underway into the written complaint filed by the mother of a ninth-grader in Ernakulam who allegedly jumped to his death due to constant harassment by his classmates. The Education Minister stated in the wake of that incident that many children have been subjected to ragging in school and some of them have stopped studying and even contemplated suicide. Are the pleasures of aggression in movies and digital games being transferred to life and put into practice? Psychologists and police chiefs say that the number of young people who are addicted to drugs and joining gangs are increasing. In the Kottayam Nursing College incident, they were also brutally beaten to obtain money to buy drugs.
There are strict instructions to the heads of institutions to form anti-ragging committees in institutions and take action within 24 hours of incidents in serious cases. Even though ragging has been going on in Kottayam for about three months, neither the teachers nor the hostel in-charges have heard anything. The laws may be strict, but without addressing the inaction and laxity of the existing systems, it is not possible to eradicate the evil pracice. Despite the entire society clamouring to end it, the real villain of this brutality is the soft approach of those who should solve it. The cruel ragging is led by those who think that the screams of violence in the rooms of the hostel will not come out and that if they know, they will get enough shield from those who protect them. Most of the cases that are reported are abandoned halfway or are settled under political pressure. Even in Kerala, 70 per cent of incidents do not result in even a case being charged. How then can ragging be eradicated? Let us recall the words that 'Madhyamam' wrote in the wake of Siddharth's painful loss of life. Along with the knowledge in the textbook, these institutions are also meant to teach mutual love, brotherhood and morality. Educational institutions should not be turned into places where anti-social elements are created and students become victims of their terror and mob lynching. The culprits should be punished without mercy. Everyone should be ready for self-reflection.
