Daily Times

In 2017, I joined university. I had two feelings at that time: freedom and fear.

A freedom from the cramped life of home and fear from the behavior of seniors.

First year students are considered a separate class in the beginning of campus life. I had to meet every senior and give them respect, ignoring their disruptive attitude. It was tough to control myself when I was degraded for their amusement.

First two weeks of university are the weeks of fooling or ragging: Juniors are like puppets and seniors behave like owners and order juniors to follow their instructions without considering what they’re doing is wrong. They ask them to open up their secrets and do vulgar acts that cause physical and mental turmoil. They convince juniors by telling them they’re building their confidence, a pathetic way to justify themselves.

This is harassment. Some of the juniors are strong enough to deal with these situations but the majority can’t. Any resistance is considered against the law by the seniors.

After the humiliation, seniors expect to earn respect. Juniors respect them, but the reason behind the respect is force and survival.

Juniors sometimes become drug addicts, lured into addiction by seniors.

In the government universities of Pakistan, youth is segregated on the basis of caste and region. As I belong to the Saraiki region, I was offered to join the Saraiki council. The seniors who invited me told me joining the council will help me in problems related to my studies or anything else, but most of them were just wasting their time, involved in fighting with other councils established for the same purpose. Majority of the newcomers join the societies and councils unaware of what the societies would cost them, and so their studies suffer. Students work on designations they do not deserve, because talented individuals aren’t given opportunities.

In the last seven years, 31 cases of suicide were reported in India, and ragging increases risk for suicide. Seniors must be a source of comfort for juniors. Those who degrade juniors must get punished, and there should be strict laws in government institutes against ragging.