Ragging in Sri Lanka

There is no record to prove such an act has prevailed in the ancient Sri Lankan educational institutions such as Mahavihara or Abhayagiri Vihara. It was in the post World War II era, a concept called ragging came into existence. Ragging is not an indigenous phenomenon, but a direct result of the British colonialism in Sri Lanka. Soldiers returning from war re-entered the college and brought with them the technique of ragging learned in military camp. These techniques were used to make individual fail as an individual and succeed as a team. But eventually when lesser number of military persons entered the universities, ragging lost in primary objectives and became a violent and hazardous exercise

Ragging is continued to happen in most government universities and several private institutions. In majority of the cases, ragging implies that seniors mocking and jesting at freshers. There is a certain period of time, usually the first few months in the university, assigned for each and every undergraduate to undergo ragging. This period is known as the ragging period. It is. In Sri Lanka, several types of ragging can be observed.

Evolution of Ragging

 

Substantial ink has been spent in discussing the incidents and ill-effects of ragging but we have hardly ever tried to go deeper to the roots of this savage phenomenon which is rapidly eroding our education system.

 

Ragging, Hazing, Fagging, Bullying, Pledging, Horse-playing etc. are different terms used in different parts of the world but each signifying the same old practice of welcoming the fresher in a barbaric manner.

 

This phenomenon can be traced back to as early as 7th or 8th century A.D. In Greek culture, new entrants to the sport community were subjected to all kinds of humiliations and teasing to inculcate a team spirit in them. Gradually with the passage of time this technique was subjected to myriad modifications and was later adopted by the military forces, from there it finally entered in the education system.

 

Since its inception in the educational arena, ragging underwent several modifications before morphing into an organized form of campus violence.

 

During the 18th century forming a student organization in colleges was very much in vogue particularly in the European countries. This concept was later adopted by the U.S. universities as well. In the period 1828-1845, several student organizations popped up in the U.S. campuses. These were named after Greek letters like Alpha, Phi, Beta, Kappa, Epsilon, Delta etc and were called as Greek Letter Organizations (GLO's) or Fraternities. The new entrants to these fraternities were known as PLEDGES. During this time ragging (called as Hazing in west) existed in its rudimentary form and was merely a ritual to test the courage of the pledge.

 

The first ragging related death occurred in 1873 when a freshman from Cornell University fell into a gorge as a consequence of ragging.

 

Ragging underwent a massive transformation after World-War 1. It was during this time that it started to acquire its real brutal form. Soldiers returning from war re-entered the college and brought with them the technique of Hazing (ragging) learned in military camp. These techniques were used to make individual fail as an individual and succeed as a team. This philosophy of team development continued to be used in different fraternities. Eventually when fewer military students entered college these techniques were passed onto others who did not understand their purpose or usage and ragging became a brutal and hazardous exercise. Gradually in the early 20th century ragging related violence started to escalate in the western countries.


 

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