Assaulted, thrown out of room: JU students recount ragging horror
As many as nine current and former students of Jadavpur University in Kolkata have been arrested amid furor after Swapnadip Kundu, a first-year student, allegedly died by suicide following ragging by seniors. While political parties are busy passing the buck, reports say that the culture of ragging has been prevalent on campus for a long time. Current students and alums have now spoken out about seniors ragging them and the treatment they were subjected to.
Intro: How freshers are 'introduced' to ragging
Quoting a third-year student, The Quint reported that the mistreatment was euphemized as "intro." He said, "Every night after 11 pm...I would have to be minimally dressed and knock on the doors of all the rooms in the hostel. Once a senior opens the door, I would have to then introduce myself in a certain 'format'... say my name, my father's name, my mother's name, date of birth, and other personal details... The 'intro' would end with my physical description."
Enter hostel by 6 pm, buzz cut for easy identification
The freshers are barred from using any English words in their "intro," failing which would result in punishment. The freshers are required to enter the hostel by 6:00pm and maintain a buzz cut, dubbed the "first-year cut," for easy identification. Another postgraduate student said the seniors forced juniors to fetch food and alcohol at odd hours. He said the seniors physically assaulted him once and threw him out of his room in the middle of the night.
Senior students control room allocation
The students said the seniors threatened them for complaining about them. Students shift to seniors' rooms as "guests" after failing to secure a hostel berth officially. The Telegraph reported that the issue is worsening due to the current system of allocating rooms. Officially, there's no provision for staying as guests, but former students stay on and continue to call the shots regarding hostel allocation. Notably, the mess committee, run by senior students, has the final say in room allocation.
Only 16% of students accommodated in hostels
The total capacity of the university's hostels is 1,876, which is 16% less than the average strength of 12,000 students at any given time. Of these, 1,254 are reserved for boys and 622 for girls. Based on vacancies, 150-160 boys and 80-100 girls from undergraduate first-year are allotted rooms every year. The University Grants Commission's (UGC) new norms for four-year undergraduate programs will further reduce vacancies as students will have to be accommodated for an extra year.
