POHOTTU AS USA’ S PROXY Part 8Ld
Posted on August 28th, 2022

KAMALIKA PIERIS

The IUSF starts its process of controlling the freshers, long before they arrive in the University.  IUSF made use of the one year gap between A Level and University to gain control over the future first year undergrad. IUSF does the work, but there is a political party behind this which provides the money, said analysts.

Once the intake into University was decided and the successful applicants are informed, the IUSF contacted those students over the phone and through social media. IUSF clearly has contacts in the administration, who are prepared to release this list to the JVP. The names and addresses of selected applicants are known only to the administration.

Weeramunda (2008)   in his 2007   survey of student violence in university confirmed that the IUSF got addresses of all new recruits from the university.    The officer in charge refused to give the list to the IUSF in 2007, said a respondent from Kelaniya, but they were given this information when X was the Chancellor.

IUSF then conducted unofficial meetings in each district,  and invited the future undergrads to join classes arranged by the IUSF, which conveniently took place in the nearest town.Weeramunda confirmed that IUSF contacted new entrants privately at the district level and ran an awareness programme for them.

 These ‘kuppi’ sessions took place every weekend, in their hometowns, in temples and in tuition classes. They were the first source of University information for these freshers, said Hettiarachchi.   These classes initially took the form of providing genuine assistance in teaching the difficult subject modules students would meet in the first year. Students with weak scores would have responded eagerly to this.

These sessions then gradually converted in to brainwashing sessions identified as ‘thela gaseeme’. Participants were sent for political classes, for 5 day classes, two week classes and also camps, added Hettiarachchi. 

Then came University. After our Advanced Level Examination we entered university with high hopes,  said one undergrad who had entered in 2011. We were soon disillusioned. We were subject to inhuman ragging by the seniors.

 IUSF is very welcoming when the freshers arrive. They meet the parents and undergrads and speak very encouragingly and comfortingly. They assure parents that they will look after their children. Parents leave happily, thinking that their children will be safe in the hands of the IUSF seniors.  

In 2017, at Rajarata parents had been told by the Student Council at a meeting that there was no ragging in the university.  They had later learned that this was far from the truth.  When we started university, the seniors spoke to us in a very loving manner and even our parents were surprised. But things changed thereafter, said one undergrad.

For the first week, the freshers are treated very kindly and well.   The seniors first used decent language. Then they started to call us, not nangi, malli but tho, thopi, yako, mehe varen. Thereafter they started scolding us using foul language.    The freshers were then given a protracted ragging,  which went on for three months,  and in some places extended over the whole of the first year. It was not a one-or-two-week event.

The ragging was master minded by the Student Union, which in turn was led by the Inter University Federation of Students (IUFS). The Students Union is permitted by university regulations to address the welfare needs of students. Using this, the Union obtains approval for a familiarization programme for freshers.  

They prepare a progamme and get University approval. This programme does not contain ragging; it consists of musical shows and other such activities..That is why we can’t catch them observed undergrads. They get their overt plan approved by the university. But the purpose underneath these activities is ragging, observed Hettiarachchi.

The description given by students in different universities and different years of study all corroborate each other and a pattern of systematic well planned ragging, common to all the Universities emerges . It is an organized rag, we only realized this later, saidRuhuna undergrad Dharsha Udayanga. This is a well organized scheme,  agreed the authorities

There are several teams involved  in the ragging  operation. The  actual ragging was done by the second year students under instruction from the third year students. In addition,  there is a first aid team to look after those who  become injured during the ragging. There is also a ‘security’ team,  which stays on the stairs to each floor of the hostel, while the ragging is going on.

Security  was also positioned  outside as look out, they are stationed  about half a kilometer away.  Using Whatsapp they will inform  those inside that a car is approaching. That is why it is difficult to catch them in the act, said undergrads.  Also freshers had to switch off their  mobile phones while the rag was on.

Before ragging starts, the IUSF acquires detailed information on each fresher.  The freshers have to fill in a form given by the raggers. This form includes address, financial position of family, political affiliation, likes and dislikes, boy friend, girl friend,  health issues , also caste.  Those with medical ailments are  not ragged.  Some seniors pretended to be freshers to get information on the  freshers, said informants.

Each fresher was given a card”, meaning a nickname unique to each student. He was known by that name for the rest of his stay at university. This helped to hide the true identity of the undergrad from the university administration. This is part of the JVP strategy of concealment, said authorities.

The real names of students are not known to us. They use nicknames and they do not have their ID  with them on campus,  authorities  said. At  Kelaniya  it took the university authorities more than one month to get  the real name of a student involved in an act of violence and that too by accident.

There was a dress code for the first three months.  The men could not wear watches. Denims were forbidden. Girls had to wear long cotton dresses, rubber slippers  and had to plait their hair. Analysts observed that the freshers  knewthis beforehand and  girls arrived wearing long dresses. Girls could not  wear necklaces.

Freshers  could not laugh or smile and  had to  speak in pure Sinhala. Freshers were     forbidden to  cry when spoken to roughly. Girls were not allowed to go anywhere alone. Freshers  had to carry a particular colored file wherever they went  during the first year. In one university it was  yellow for arts and green for science  faculty.   ( CONTINUED)

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

 

 


Copyright © 2024 LankaWeb.com. All Rights Reserved. Powered by Wordpress