A tale of two universities

Delhi continues to strive towards a brighter future unmarred by the menace of ragging....in a matter of few weeks , the whole campus of the celebrated University of Delhi will be under electronic surveillance. The University authorities in collaboration with the Delhi Police are putting up 47 CCTV s across the campus in order to avoid any untoward incidents. The authorities have also expressed their desire of setting up a 24-hour helpline for students to call in in the event of ragging or eve-teasing. Way to go Delhi! Three cheers!

But again, to remind us that there is along way to go before we sleep, is the University of Punjab. A complaint was lodged against some second year students a couple of weeks ago. They were accused of forcing freshers to strip and walk naked around the campus.
Quite serious an offence, I say! Well,according to the University authorities, not quite. The students have been suspended for a week.
The Dean of Social Welfare commented that the University had set up a committee to "look" into the matter; though has it that the authorities have decided to hush the matter up and term it as an "interactive session"! So apparently, Raghavan committee can go to the dogs!

Depressing? Exasperating?Vexing?

Death at my doorstep

Apparently water isn't safe anymore.Not when you are in college.

Gurkirat Singh, freshman at The Government Sports College, Chandigarh,didn't know that. He is dead.

Accusations have been flying thick and fast for the past few days. The son of farmer,Gurkirat was a promising basketball player who was found entangled to the college pool's ladder by a student who jumped in at the insistence of a teacher who apparently got worried since Gurkirat had been missing for hours.

The college Principal has till now been nonchalant, insisting that Gurkirat along with a bunch of other students had forced entry into the pool by manhandling the watchman and then had subsequently died because he didn't know how to swim.

The truth appears, however, to be much more sinister.

A certain man by the name of Harkanwal Singh, who also happens to be the boy's father, alleged in the "Times Of India" that his son had been a victim of ragging. Far from an accident,this was a case of homicide.
He says that his son had called him up a few days ago and stated how the "seniors" were pestering him incessantly. They were harassing him and threatening him and he had begun to lose morale. The father says there are bruises and marks of a scuffle in the boy's hands and feet, clearly showing that he was stopped by force from coming out of the water.
He also says that Gurkirat knew how to swim.


The college authorities remain dutifully firm over their side of the story. They say that the pool was off-limits for students in general and Gurkirat forced his way in. They however,cannot specify any motive for Gurkirat to have done so.
Indeed it is difficult to imagine why a freshman would do so! The college authorities also are trying hard to shove the ragging issue under the carpet. The police have registered a case but personally speaking, their progress seems rather suspect.
They have so far "quizzed" the students about ragging and as expected, all of them have said that there was no ragging going on. They apparently said that the "incidents were not serious and couldn't be called ragging."


Ragging or no ragging, Gurkirat Singh is dead. And it serves me no joy in typing that he might be the first ragging death this year. However,the greater fear is that he is the first of many.