Opinion: In ragging, the student dies but the society suffers, what are we doing to the children?

If someone is better than us, learning from him/her is a prerequisite for our progress. But no one can be better than us in every field, this truth is also irrefutable. In other words, someone who is better than us in some area is almost guaranteed to be worse in some area too. The quality of accepting the better and leaving the worse is defined here as ‘Neer-Kshir Vivek’. Meaning, understanding, knowledge and ability to differentiate between milk and water. There is also a saying – keep the essence deep, let it spread. But it is rare to develop the ability to dig deep into the essence and blow away the small things with this water-soaked wisdom. The general tendency is to blindly learn the good as well as the bad of what is considered better. A very sad example of this blind imitation of the western world is the practice of ragging in educational institutions. Many children lost their lives due to ragging and many suffered such deep mental trauma that their enthusiasm to step into the new life of college-university was shattered. Done. The latest name linked to the murder through ragging is that of Anil Natwarbhai Methania. How happy that 18 year old young man would have been if he/she had received the news of admission in the Medical College located in Patan, Gujarat. But little did he/she know that in the echo of this happiness, death had started stalking him/her quietly. he/she would never have imagined that his/her dream of becoming a doctor and saving lives would be dashed in just three hours of ragging. But they say – whatever is approved by the intention, happens. Niyati made the same seniors of Anil as murderers from whom the young boy must have had the desire to learn and understand a lot.

Today Anil is no more, before that many Anils have become victims of ragging, but the biggest worry is that many Anils will continue to fall victim to demonic seniors in the future also. They will be subjected to various types of torture and will continue to be killed without any fault. Many times, in the name of ragging, such inhuman acts take place that children, who could never imagine such a thing in their world, commit suicide in deep pain. When they see the cruelest face of the world beyond their understanding, they are so shocked and troubled that they cannot find any way forward and decide to end their lives.

The question is, how do we fail to maintain deep faith in the purest form of the world in such innocent, fearless, innocent children? After all, the government has made the law, yet? The answer lies in this very question – the intervention of government and law is needed only where the society fails. Have we, as a society, failed to teach our children how precious lives are? How do those who get the title of senior in colleges and universities develop such indifference towards life that they set a deadly task for a junior who is taking the first step on his/her own path? Shouldn’t we inculcate in the minds of our children that whenever they become senior, capable, strong, they should support their juniors, support the needy, become a protective shield for the weak?

We have failed shamefully in the sense that we are not able to create even a shadow, let alone the height of vitality, in our children. After all, why did Anil tolerate the law of ragging till he/she fell unconscious? Why couldn’t he/she raise the alarm of rebellion against his/her superiors until his/her life was in danger? As parents, should we not make our children practice survival so much that when they face the world directly, without any support, without any protection, without any protection, then it becomes more and more difficult for them to survive? Forget about giving up life even in circumstances, stay away from even the thought of it? The death of children like Anil is more a result of our dismal failure as parents than of the government and administration. We are not able to teach our children to respect life.