KAMALIKA PIERIS

There is systemic ragging in the universities of Sri Lanka. This ragging is not something generated from within the University. It is a political enterprise  directed from outside the University but executed by students within the University.  This fact is now in the open domain. University ragging is a political enterprise, announced Prof Sujeewa Amarasena, Vice Chancellor, University of Ruhuna in 2019.  They have been at this for the last two decades, he said.

There was general agreement with this allegation. This ragging is carried out by certain political parties active in the University said informants. Certain political groups are involved in ragging”, they said. The majority of undergraduates do not engage in this type of ragging.

Informants   also agree  that it is the JVP and FSP through IUSF, which is responsible for the inhuman ragging in the state universities. JVP took control of the Inter University Student Federation (IUSF) in 1976. Thereafter office bearers of the Students Union in most universities were usually from JVP. In 2012 Frontline Socialist Party (FSP), Peratugami, broke away from the JVP and took over control of the student politics in University,  including IUSF. Ragging greatly increased after FSP took control of student politics, said informants.

JVP and FSP were   able to move into the University without any difficulty because the University, from the beginning, was hospitable to political parties. The first political parties to take an interest in the University were the Marxist parties of the 1940s,   followed by the rest.   Political parties quickly established foot holds in the University. There are formally established branches of national political parties in universities, said the UGC in 2019. They have been there for a long time 

Today all 15 universities are controlled by a single political movement said Prof. Mohan de Silva, Chairman UGC when interviewed in 2019.They have created a strong movement within the university system. The political component is entrenched into this whole thing, he said.   More than the students’ involvement there are outside parties who give them instructions.  Even the leaders don’t have any control, concluded Mohan de Silva. He did not name the party.

Media stated in 2022, that undergraduates know very well if they speak against  certain minor two political parties (some time ago it was one small political party) they will be killed or they will be forced to commit suicide. This bitter situation has been in existence at all state universities in Sri Lanka from 1971 to now.   The political party was not named, but we were given a hint, it was a party which only had 3% support of the public, obviously the JVP and its breakaway Frontline Socialist Party.

Daily Mirror in its extensive coverage of the topic (see below) named JVP and FSP as the agencies responsible for ragging in the universities, Daily Mirror said it is a well known fact that it is the Student Union leaders who are in most cases affiliated to the JVP or its breakaway group, the FSP who are responsible for the prevalence of ragging in universities though they deny this.

Sujatha Gamage also did not hesitate to name the JVP as the party responsible for  ragging in University  One party in particular, namely, the JVP, has followed a systematic method to recruit and indoctrinate new batches of enthusiastic supporters and a hard core of activists every year  in the University, she said.  This assures the party of a continuous supply of new entrants. The Peratugami Party, a breakaway of the JVP, is also thought to be a force, but overall it seems to be a complex interplay of the two, Sujatha concluded.

Prof Sujeewa Amarasena stated when he appeared on “Talk with Chatura” in 2019 that university   ragging was done by the IUSF, led by JVP.  A person who had listened in on this programme wrote in,   What Amarasena says regarding IUSF and JVP politics inside university is absolutely true. They are a nuisance to normal student life in universities. (https://youtu.be/idUG1dI3n5g) .

Respondents to the UGC survey on Ragging, Sexual and Gender Based Violence (2018)  said it is  crucial to recognize that there is a link between student politics and university ragging. Respondents to the UGC survey said that JVP and the Frontline Party are always behind ragging”. Inter University Students Federation is just a ploy of the Frontline Party they said. 

Undergraduates  appearing on talk shows for television and   YouTube, openly named  FSP and IUSF   as responsible  for the ragging. All   undergraduate societies  in  a University   are controlled by  a very small political party,  stated an undergrad at a TV talk show in November 2018. There is ragging when  Peratugami is in control of  the Student Union. When Peratugami is not controlling the union there is no ragging,  they concluded.   

Daily Mirror essays on the subject of ragging in University include:

• https://www.dailymirror.lk/122815/Ragging-continues-to-torment-undergraduates (Jan 27, 2017 )
• https://www.dailymirror.lk/News-Features/Ragging-perpetuated-under-the-guise-of-promoting-university-sub-culture/131-123786 (Feb 14, 2017)
• https://www.dailymirror.lk/news-features/Ragging-at-Universities-Grave-Human-Rights-Violation-/131-124790  (Mar 3, 2017)
• https://www.dailymirror.lk/opinion/Torture-at-universities-How-The-Mentally-Disturbed-Carryout-Ragging/172-143009  (Dec 29, 2017)
• https://www.dailymirror.lk/article/Does-ragging-contribute-to-uni-education–156593.html (Oct 9, 2018)
• https://www.dailymirror.lk/news-features/University-ragging-intensifies-Breaking-a-Slave-to-Obey-the-System-/131-172516  (Aug 8, 2019)
• https://www.dailymirror.lk/Opinion/Ragging-in-universities-Academical-institutions-turn-torture-camps/172-172807 (Aug 14, 2019)