Has anyone thought about the unintended repercussions of the initiatives taken by the Supreme Court to stop ragging inside college campuses? I respect the steps taken by the honourable Court to stop ragging by categorising it as a cognizable offence.

But, as a final year student at BHU, I have observed certain unintended repercussions of the same in the form of an undefined sense of fear among the senior students – so much so that they shun even the shadow of newly admitted students.

The fanatical involvement of the university administration, on the instructions of the Supreme Court, and its sceptical attitude towards the senior students, who are unreasonably interrogated, has scared the senior students so much that they are reluctant to even look at the freshers. I am afraid these restrictions will have a perceptible impact on the freshers’ academic performance and overall development.

I think the Court should have taken steps to ensure a healthy interaction between the newcomers and the senior students so that the former can feel at home in the unfamiliar new campus environment. My batch-mates and I owe much of the credit for our satisfactory academic performance to our seniors, who acted as caring guides for us. But now with the mortifying interference of the university administration on the pretext of “curbing ragging”, I feel that sharing such a relationship with the fresh batch is impossible.

Sachin Kumar Singh,

Room No. 45, S.R.K. Hostel, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Banaras Hindu University