Ragging, a malignant disease concocted by people with malevolent bearing, raises its ugly head again

With instances of ragging cropping up with alarming regularity, there have been instances where victimized students have often resorted to extreme steps as suicide, allegedly due to harassment by fellow students.

Several colleges and institutions assert, typically without evidence or proof, to have initiated strict measures to curb ragging on and off-campuses, though it has been observed that most of these have been implemented only on paper.

Ragging is a serious issue; it causes humiliation and leads to low self-esteem. While the ceremony of ragging was started as a traditional practice of familiarizing beginners with their seniors, it soon turned into a potent practice for ill-treating and punishing poor students, especially, if they failed to obey their seniors.

Under the pretext of fun and entertainment, new students are often subject to assault and inhuman treatment, sexual at times, which leaves an ineffaceable impact on students making the ragging period emotionally disturbing and distressing.

Recent case of 12 minors being thrashed in case of ragging by seniors of a government run residential school in western Assam’s Chirang district with bamboo poles and wooden planks on the night of July 29-30 came to light after the students with broken bones needed medical attention reminds us of the entire history of ragging which has plagued our educational institutions.

Following Supreme Court orders, a National Anti-Ragging Helpline was launched by the Indian Government. Students being ragged send emails at helpline@antiragging.in to register their complaint, which can be registered without disclosing the name(s) of the victim(s) by making an anonymous email id or by calling the helpline number 1800-180-5522.

Honesty is definitely not the best policy in India

New Delhi: Durga Shakti Nagpal. IAS officer of Punjab cadre's 2009 batch. Last August, she was posted as SDM of Gautam Buddh Nagar in Ghaziabad after her transfer from Punjab to Uttar Pradesh cadre. But she was hurriedly suspended for demolishing the wall of a religious structure, in the area that comes under the jurisdiction of Rabupura Police Station, an act that she was neither involved in nor responsible for. A report submitted by the DM, Ravikanth Kumar, has clearly stated that the sub-divisional magistrate of Gautam Buddh Nagar had never ordered the demolition of the wall of any religious structure. It says that she had merely told the villagers against construction of illegal structures on Government land. The village residents chose to dismantle the illegal construction of their own volition.

Strange enough that Samajwadi Party had debarred the SDM temporarily from her service on grounds of pulling down the wall of a religious structure. The report submitted by the current DM brings to light the intentions of the Samajwadi Party.

However, the UP government has shown no hurry in revoking the suspension order of D S Nagpal. After his two-day Karnataka visit, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav returned Lucknow on Tuesday, wherein he collected complete information on the issue regarding D S Nagpal's suspension from the higher authorities. In the meantime, Durga Shakti Nagpal has been attached to the Revenues Council (Revenue Board).

The IAS Association has urged the Centre to intervene in the matter. It is being put forward that the actual reason behind ostensibly removing D S Nagpal from her position was her honest and firm stand during her tenure. Durga had come down heavily on the mining mafia. During her term, she had ordered stringent action against the sand mafia and the Uttar Pradesh police had registered FIRs and collected lakhs of rupees as a penalty. Her stand against the sand mafia created created unrest among the sand-mafia lobby who in turn put pressure on the Uttar Pradesh government and ultimately succeeded in getting her removed from her position.
But, D S Nagpal is not the first officer who has faced flak from the politicians in the course of duty.

Strange enough, where the whole nation is reeling under the bane of corruption, Samajwadi Party leaders take pride in declaring that they had managed to Mrs. Nagpal suspended within 41 minutes of meeting Mr. Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Where the Times News Report has exposed the brazen attitude of the UP government and the arrogant outlook of Mr. Akhilesh Yadav, a lot is yet to be unearthed on what could be the result of all this political mayhem.

On one hand, a chargesheet is being filed against Mrs. D S Nagpal and on the other hand, people have resorted to social platforms to speak against the Centre who did not find it necessary to intervene in the matter due to vested political interests.

An aspiration to join the highest coveted civil service in India to bring about a positive change in the country may go for a toss among the young generation, after witnessing the plight of the people who have already made it to the IAS job and are now reeling under the weight of political bigwigs and our depraved and putrid perverts who are otherwise applauded in the international arena as national-level leaders.

Entertainment from a new source

Gone are those days when television was considered the forte of entertainment. People toiled hard in the day time and squatted themselves in front of the television at night for some doses of laughter, which televisions alone provided.

Now times have changed, our political leaders have taken upon themselves the task of providing us amusement or enjoyment early in the morning. It all started with Digvijay Singh paying his respects to Osama by calling him ``Osama ji.’’ The news appeared in all papers and people made instinctive expressions of being entertained. Strange enough, in our own country, where political parties are known to snub each other at every instance or hurl furniture at each other in the Legislature, Diggy went one step further in addressing an international terrorist with all due respect.

But, we Indians are known to be competent and possess the necessary ability and skill to step on others’ shoes to move ahead. Our political leaders proved themselves to be no different from us. So, followed him, was a holder of a public office who tickled our funny bones by suggesting that one can have food for Rs. 12. Then followed other humorous remarks that it is possible to fill our stomachs for Rs. 5 and just Re. 1, respectively.

Thanks to the RBI for doing away with the 50 paisa coins from the market, otherwise, who knows we may have been bombarded with news of getting meal at a cost of 50 paisa only.

Putting to rest all these news, there is one thing that struck us alike. None of the politicians gave us the address of the dhaba or the hotel where food is made available at such cheap rates. Bad enough, these seekers of major public offices fear that we Indians may all queue up in front of that food joint for cheap food allowing them no space to enjoy the advantage of what they had discovered. Our political leaders are surely selfish geniuses who do not want to share the names of the places, where they could get meals at such low rates.

But, these leaders have entertained us for sure. We did laugh heartily on their comments except the cynical ones, who still expect our leaders to take care of bigger problems like poverty, corruption, and security.     

The Reds who had turned the state from West Bengal to Waste Bengal

West Bengal has suddenly come into focus on the political arena due to the death of Students Federation of India (SFI) leader, Sudipta Gupta (http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/sfi-leaders-death-causes-furore/article4575257.ece), the reason primarily being SFI being a wing of Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)]. CPI (M) that had so fervently used the slogan, “CPM, laal salaam!’’ to seize the  attention of the public around, especially, in West Bengal that once upon the time enjoyed the sobriquet, “Sonaar Bangla’’. Any person who has spent a major part of his life in West Bengal has heard this motto associated with the political party, CPI(M), known for its intellectual pretensions that managed to condemn the fate of West Bengal to a state of Waste Bengal. It would not be wrong to say that the state of Bengal under the political leadership of Jyoti Basu and his comrades was nothing short of a banana republic, an unstable state, in disguise. The state, which had bred the likes of Ramakrishna Paramahansa, Swami Vivekananda, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, Rabindranath Tagore, Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyaya, and Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, had turned into something obnoxious, pathetic, and so vulnerable that the residents of the state had developed a feeling of antipathy and helplessness towards their own land. During the regime of CPI(M), schools were burned down so that people remained illiterate and unlettered, grants to hospitals and funds meant for infrastructure were embezzled and misappropriated, and law was practically bought and tucked away in the pockets of those who could afford and wanted to run the state as per their whims. The political party that had promised the people with a whole array of opportunities and available possibilities had, in fact, reversed the state of affairs in the state into a labyrinth of confusion and misguidance in which people got caught, stuck, and bamboozled. The political party, CPI (M), which claims to be the longest-serving democratically-elected communist government, had in the truest sense rendered Bengal into a condition of persistent vegetative state that refused to wake itself up and free itself from the fetters with which it had been confined to a state of coma and permanent disability. Bengal, practically, had nothing to look up to and no one to look up to it. The CPI (M) vandalized and destroyed the very soul of the state through committing atrocities on its people by letting loose their political goons and making blunderous decisions to suit their own interests.

                    But, there is something that they forgot. Human beings are resilient by spirit. What they need is just a chance to bounce back on their feet and a leader who could just show that all is not ended unless you decide to put down your arms. There is light at the end of the tunnel and all we need to do is not to let the light go away from our sight unless we have reached that end to make a new beginning. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) came and put to rest the pessimism that had got frozen in the minds of the people due to fear and pain. The people wanted to do away with the CPI (M), rather banish its very existence, but alas in a democracy it is not possible.

                   The CPI (M), when in power, had attempted to show to the world that it was running the state based on some idealistic policy, but in fact, they had actually brainwashed the rural and urban people with a sense of fake ego and useless principles that took West Bengal back into a stage where it was during British colonization. Mamata Banerjee's decision to stop students union elections to the universities and colleges in West Bengal, seemed not to have gone down well with the Left. The present situation, regarding campus violence, can only be understood in the historical perspective wherein the Left front had intended of building a very strong student front which will serve as their gatekeepers for their political interests.

                   The death of a student leader, no doubt, is painful in the history of student politics. Moreover, it is shameful on the Left’s part to brand an accident as a crime committed in cold murder. It is not new to the experience of the Bengalis that the Marxist party leaves no stone unturned to stir attention of the people and use it to its complete political advantage. The report of the forensic experts and the statement given by the Bengal police means nothing to the Left front, for they intend to make use of any and every incident as plausible that can bring them back to power. The death of Sudipta Gupta, is perhaps, being seen as an opportunity by CPI (M) to strengthen its roots in the minds of the Bengali people from where they have been ostracized owing to their criminal and mindless politics.

The strange reasoning of Mr. Katju

I had always learned that comparisons were made on similar, if not identical, grounds. But, honestly, I never knew what it was like comparing a fish to a bird. Strange, it may seem, but today’s society inclusive of the likes of Justice Markandey Katju, Chairman, Press Council of India have made recent comments seeking similar judgement for two completely different cases. The cases are not only different in terms of parameters, circumstances surrounding the crime, but also the nature of the crime itself. By comparing Sanjay Dutt’s case (accused of hoarding arms and ammunition for the purpose of abetment of terrorism, but convicted of keeping in his possession, unlicensed prohibited weapons) with Commander Nanavati’s case (culpable homicide amounting to murder), Mr. Katju has shown scant knowledge of the law and disregard for our jurisdiction that has continuously laid emphasis on the principle that the law of the land has meager regard for social status and that justice is a matter of right, not of privilege. Further, Mr. Katju pointed out that through his films Sanjay Dutt had revived the memory of Mahatma Gandhi and the message of Gandhiji, an apparent reference to “Gandhigiri” in Munnabhai films. (See http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/katju-seeks-pardon-for-actor/article4536344.ece for more) But, had not Sanjay Dutt done films like Agneepath, where he had played the role of the much-hated Kanch Cheena? Can the role done a person in films be considered as enough material for judgment of his true character? Is not there a considerable difference in reel life and real life, although reel life is an exaggerated manifestation of our imagination and inspired from characters of actual life? Munnabhai was a character portrayed with the same ease and fervour as Kancha Cheena. So the plea regarding grant of mercy to a person based on his cinematic experience would not only be a mockery of reasonable behavior and travesty of equity before law but also a grave injustice and pain caused to families of victims of the blasts that rocked the country back in 1993.

The judgment has already come in too late, thus, hurting the common man’s sentiments more than ever and rooting in a feeling of vexation against the existing hierarchy in our judiciary.

It is my sincere request to Mr. Katju to stop quoting the speech of Portia in Shakespear’s Merchant of Venice as he had already done that before in a letter to Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari requesting grant of pardon to Sarabjit Singh (http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/justice-katju-pakistan-zardari-sarabjit-singh/1/183943.html).  

Mr. Dutt, if literate, educated, and conscientious would have surely known about the famous saying by the Father of the Nation:

There is a higher court than courts of justice and that is the court of conscience. It supercedes all other courts. - Mahatma Gandhi

Sanjay Dutt, tweeting about his shoot of Policegiri, gives a feeling that he can take the people for a ride with his comments (soaked in emotions) and create a positive image for himself in the minds of the people who look upon actors as demi Gods and creations of divine intervention. 

A second chance given to crime

The Bill against rape and other sexual offences against women, meant to be of substance thus protecting the rights and dignity of women, has been diluted. http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/antirape-bill-diluted/article4523994.ece. Reason being, the strong opposition from communal parties like the BJP and the Samajwadi Party and unsolicited arguments put forward by the Rashtriya Janata Dal and Janata Dal-United. The all-party meeting held to make necessary changes in the Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2013 could not come to a common decision regarding the amendments. Result is a weakened bill being added to the copious laws already existing but least implemented in our country. While the demands made by the Opposition have always been inimical to the interests of the land, and the country is yet to recuperate from the chain of sexual crimes being caused against our women, the Government is faced with no other alternate method other than to renege and go back on its promise on providing its people a safe society. The ideologies on the basis of which our political parties argue, quarrel, and put forward their weird opinions represent the most perfect and typical example of a democracy crushed and mutilated to its core. While the lore of respecting the women and giving them an equal place along with others has been passed to us through ages, there are plenty of societies existing who would do anything to make a mockery of everything and anything that contributes to the making of an egalitarian society. The aggression in the minds of our men against the emancipation and freedom of women is a result of virulent stance and historically unequal power relations between men and women. Nevertheless, the passing of the diluted Bill would be a caricature of the nation’s anticipated Bill, thereby, giving a second chance to crime against women.  

Happy nature, happy you

I have been keeping water and grain for the birds on my balcony for the past many years. I get to see the winged animals coming down to my balcony in flocks, eating, playing, drinking and even leave their excreta behind on the walls of my house. So, when I happened to read this news, http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/provide-water-for-birds/article4511207.ece, it acted as a kind of catalyst for me provoking me to leave more grains and water for the pigeons and doves who collect at my place everyday leaving me with a sense of peace, fulfillment, and joy. The flapping of the wings, the call of the pigeons, the gaze of the dove, the imprint of their wet toes at times and more furnish us with a glimpse of what nature has in store and how amazing it can be to understand and sway to the tune of the creation around us.  

We are INDIANS after all…….

Pranab Mukherjee said something, http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/youth-should-have-a-say-says pranab/article4506834.ece, which we know but he still felt the need to say that, moreover, discuss that. May be he felt that his words might have some reverberating effect on today’s youth that is known more for its cynical and competent nature. No matter how many scams our money is lost to, how many female infants get killed, how many women get harassed, how many times the government crumbles and breaks, how many covetous allies rule the roost at the centre, how many gluttonous and over-fed politicians represent our land, how many voracious ministers have been involved in bloodshed, terrorism, and illegal activities, how many voyeuristic members of the Parliament have been involved in illegitimate relationships, whether the criminals in both the Houses outnumber the well-meant elected representatives, and how many criminal and civil cases lie pending against our so-called appointed delegates, the youth of India does not care. Today’s youth knows how to criticize every other act, but is not ready to take responsibility for improving upon it nor it is eager enough to shoulder the liability to participate and encourage participation of others. Whereas the democratic India is fighting hard to rid itself of the ideologies of some fanatics and fundamentalists, attempting to make a strong hold on us, there is another part of India who does not wish to recognize its rights and convert its rights into a means of bringing upon a change.

We all want change, but we do not wish to be partake in the process of government making. Leave alone politics, we ignore even the crimes that are committed around us on a daily basis. ``We are busy’’ is what the generation of today say, but what is that makes them so busy? Ipods, mobiles, mini browsers, FB, twitter accounts, opposite gender ………… to name a few. People scream their hearts out on twitter handles, post pictures on FB but are not willing to stop and look around them. We experience crime against women in our neighborhoods, but how many have turned around to ask and offer help? How many show concern to the grey population with us who need us in the last stages of their lives. We denote them as septuagenarian and octogenarian, but do we understand the pain behind it? We love to spend time in cafes, coffee bars, discotheques, amusement parks, theatres, cinemas, spa, etc., but how many beat the heat to vote. Vote for the true representative, the party does not matter, irrespective of his cultural background. It takes full five years to get another chance to vote, but till then the damage is already done. And then we crib over what has happened till date.

Pranab Mukherjee did not realize that his words had fallen on deaf ears. The youth is definitely not going to go out and take part in the governmental or development process. For us, it is all dented and painted speech. `` In India, everyone has an opinion to give’’ will be the common reaction. We are stubborn, we are stupid, we are unconscious, we are morons, we are INDIANS after all…….