The Socialist Peoples’ Forum, called for an end to ragging in State Universities and specifically for all student unions across public Universities including the Inter-University Student Federation (IUSF) and those with a political leaning to the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) and the Frontline Socialist Party (FSP), to publicly declare an action plan to end ragging.

Recently, an engineering student of the Sabaragamuwa University, committed suicide after severe ragging by members of the student body. 

Issuing a statement in this regard, the forum stated that it stands with the family of the deceased in their fight for justice and demands an independent impartial inquiry into the tragedy while the perpetrators must be punished in accordance with the Prohibition of Ragging and Other Forms of Violence in Educational Institutions Act, No. 20 of 1998.

“This is not the first fatality from physical or psychological injury or mental pain or fear within a university space. The culture of ragging which has become entrenched and even normalised in our public university system has claimed the lives of many students. Ragging has stifled freedom, independence, and dissent amongst students and built a culture of student hierarchy and strict obedience to authority. Education institutions must be spaces for personal, socio-political, and intellectual growth. Physical or psychological violence, bullying, sexual harassment, etc., must have no space in these institutions. Hence, a zero-tolerance policy towards ragging should be in place. However, university managements turn a blind eye to ragging except when it’s politically expedient to use as a tool to crush student politics. The nexus between ragging and organised student politics in State universities has resulted in a call in the society to target the rights of students to organise student unions. Student unions have directly contributed to this culture of violence by either participating or tolerating it to maintain their power in the student body. Therefore, when tragedies related to ragging are reported, the first call amongst society is to ‘depoliticise’ student unions or to ‘ban’ student unions. This call to ‘ban’ student unions has paved a convenient path for consecutive governments to break student resistance against the privatisation of education. 

“Therefore, these forms of violence are allowed to continue, and used as State propaganda to portray public universities as undisciplined spaces where leftist student unions run riot. Ragging can never be a tool to organise a revolutionary student movement. Subjecting students to violence and bending their political autonomy to the will of a few powerful individuals within the student unions is not different to the violence experienced in schools, families, workplaces and the State. Student unions must begin organising students on political ideas to build a class conscious, anti-racist, anti-oppression, feminist student movement. This is the only way to bring a permanent end to this violence on students. The time has gone for mere condemnations and concern. The responsibility is with the student leaders to take decisive measures to build a student culture which is different from what students experience today in State Universities. Every student who comes to university must be protected from bullies and nurtured”.