Features

Ragging rages on: From Centres to Margins

Published

5 years ago

2021/03/30

BY Shamala Kumar

A student, who publicly described the ragging-related sexual violence he experienced, was accused of having ulterior motives for speaking out. A junior staff member, who spoke out about the ragging she witnessed was bullied for doing so, not only by raggers, but also by the staff. A faculty member, who worked hard to stop ragging, was vilified for apparently causing divisions among students. In a survey on ragging, a student commented, “We can finally speak about ragging.” As tempting as it is to identify ragging as the problem, the response to these acts of resistance, even simply speaking about ragging, indicate the complexities of the problem and the difficulties in finding solutions.

Ragging

Much of ragging is invisible. We may hear of a student who is hospitalized after a tire was rolled over him or another who is paralysed after jumping out of a second storey window to escape rape, and we are shocked. These are, however, the most blatant of acts, and they can be easily condemned. Ragging, however, is not always obviously violent. In fact, many will say their experience of ragging was fun, describing it as ‘harmless’ and simply involving singing or listening to filth. Some who engaged in these outwardly silly acts may even say that ragging brings fond memories. But when students resist, they are dealt with swiftly, ostracised, and abused, both physically and emotionally.

Reinforcing a subculture of violence

Encountering uniformly dressed first-years walking solemnly (laughing is forbidden!) in a line, two-by-two, is so common on campus that they pass almost unseen. Their invisibility is a sign of how entrenched ragging is within the university system. Ragging reinforces the hierarchy of senior students over new students, academic staff and administration over students, men over women, and dominant languages over minority ones, instituting a command and control- structure which establishes who can speak and whose opinions count.

Ragging is built on a culture of misogyny. A past student described how her “mistakes” during ragging resulted in punishments, not to her, but to a male first-year nearby. Women are apparently not even responsible for their actions within this subculture; it is the men around them who ‘own’ and must pay for their misbehaviour. Ragging simply initiates new students to this system of oppression and violence. Yet, this culture remains even after ragging season is over, and the consequences of violating or resisting the system continue throughout the student years, and even beyond.

Academics frequently enforce hierarchies and penalise those who challenge authority. Junior staff are told, even during ‘staff development’, to remain silent in forums, as they may be dismissed as troublemakers or ignored when they speak. Those in the margins are “managed” rather than engaged with in an honest and meaningful way. This toxicity, at its extreme, ends in sexual harassment and bullying. Each of us know of such incidents but rarely discuss them in the open, allowing the ethos cultivated to permeate the university system. It is this pervasiveness that makes much of ragging invisible. And because a similar culture of violence pervades broader society, ragging remains invisible even to those outside the system.

A ragging reinforced social order

If ragging is about creating a hierarchical social order, understanding whom such a system serves is important. True, unions influenced by political party affiliations, use ragging to fulfil their agendas. They co-opt the ragged to their fold. However, vibrant student activism is integral to universities, and unions do bring up important concerns. Yet, their weak position on ragging and complete control over student activism are unacceptable. Placing blame solely on politically-affiliated unions, however, leaves unexplained the persistence of ragging on campuses where such student activism is absent and its presence even in high schools.

New and senior students benefit from the support systems and bonds formed through ragging. Students receive academic support through ‘kuppi’ classes and mentoring relationships. The batch helps out when students encounter personal crises with remarkable efficiency. Students eligible for housing share housing with those ineligible. For some students, these support systems are essential and being subjected to ragging may thus seem desirable.

The compliance cultivated through ragging also helps the university administration ‘handle’ the student body. When non-ragging related problems arise, the administration simply negotiates with student leaders to defuse them. Teachers comfortably teach, unencumbered by critically engaged students. Governments manage and manipulate student activism without much fear of organic student movements forming. Overall, a large swath of entities benefits from the social order that ragging creates.

Ending ragging difficult?

Outsiders regularly express incredulity that ragging persists at universities. Enacted laws, committees and task forces, copious research, and countless newspaper articles have done little to abate it. Why?

Firstly, the scope of ragging is misunderstood. The anti-ragging act of 1998 makes ragging unbailable with mandatory jail sentences. As all forms of ragging may not justify such severe punishments, responsible officers hesitate to implement the Act.

The Act neglects treating ragging as a group process where perpetrators collectively victimise others and are themselves victims. Those caught ragging can generally point to others who coerced them, because senior batches oversee the batch conducting the ragging. Seniors use coercive relationships established during previous years to punish students who do not rag to their liking. Nor does it implicate institutions that tacitly condone ragging. The anti-ragging act is not equipped to address these complexities.

As ragging is symptomatic of a broader culture of violence and misogyny, the violence of ragging is frequently unrecognised. A deafening silence surrounds ragging that allows it to remain hidden. Consequently, discussions among staff are coloured by a false equivalence of “both sides”, raggers and non-raggers, even though violence and coercion should never be acceptable. Ragging investigations are also often tainted by such a mindset. Sometimes a deliberate effort is made to make ragging invisible by the authorities. Complainants and victims are not always supported or protected and are even harassed and accused of tarnishing the image of the institution.

The recent proposal to involve the military in controlling ragging is also ill-conceived. The military promotes their own version of violence, hierarchy, and authoritarianism. In fact, induction into the military involves its own brand of ragging. In universities, such attempts will only result in alternative, even more corrosive problematic social orders, in which we must submit to the whims and fancies of even more powerful forces.

Strengthening education and democracy

Without acknowledging the deeply problematic anti-educational and anti-democratic nature of the ragging culture, we can neither eliminate ragging nor strengthen university education. Ragging must be understood as a manifestation of pervasive, frequently invisible, forces built on an uncritically accepted patriarchal and violent culture that undermines institutional structures and violates the very concept of education.

Confronting ragging requires a radical shift in how the problem is conceived and a firm rejection of the social order and subculture that sustains it. We need an ethos in universities that promotes dialogue, allows students and staff to voice themselves, and expand spaces for collective action in which plurality of perspectives is encouraged. Students and staff should be able to express, including through various art forms, their experience of violence, not just in terms of ragging, but also the myriad forms of violence in the classroom, and that perpetrated by institutional structures and social systems.

Laws and policies designed to address ragging must recognise its group-based nature. While identifying the range of activities that constitute ragging, they must recognize that all acts of ragging are not equal. They must address ragging by tying it to other forms of violence that afflict universities and even the country as a whole.

Importantly, they must not curb student activism, infringe on academic freedom or violate principles of democracy. Such policies should be created through discussion, debate and other democratic processes.

As institutions, we must understand the gap that ragging fills in students’ lives and attempt to address that void. Students are dependent on senior students for a range of services that institutions do not provide. A student who barely understands English is traumatized when confronted with a degree programme delivered in English. Transitioning to university is difficult under any circumstances. Helping students during this period requires well-planned programmes of support and a dedicated and equipped staff.

We must recognize that ragging is deeply entrenched in the university’s social fabric. Such a framing implicates us all: staff, students, administration, and even the general public. It requires a willingness to accept vulnerability. We must recognise that addressing ragging requires tremendous strength, unwavering commitment, and collective effort.

Ragging is a cancer; confronting it will hurt and result in collateral damage, but however painful, it ultimately is a lifegiving activity that targets wellness. Ignoring it, on the other hand, will result in a slow and tortuous death. We must be prepared for the hurt and pain while courageously working towards a ragging-free university system.

Kuppi is a politics and a pedagogy happening on the margins of the lecture hall that parodies, subverts and simultaneously reaffirms social hierarchies.

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Features

The Easter investigation must not become ethno-religious politics

Published

14 hours ago

2026/04/7

Sahan Weerasooriya

Zahran and other bombers

Representatives of almost all the main opposition parties were in attendance at the recent book launch by Pivithuru Hela Urumaya leader Udaya Gammanpila. The book written by the PHU leader was his analysis of the Easter bombing of April 2019 that led to the mass killing of 279 persons, caused injuries to more than 500 others and caused panic and shock in the entire country. The Easter bombing was inexplicable for a number of reasons. First, it was perpetrated by suicide bombers who were Sri Lankan Muslims, a community not known for this practice. They targeted Christian churches in particular, which led to the largest number of casualties. The bombing of Sri Lankan Christian churches by Sri Lankan Muslims was also inexplicable in a country that had no history of any serious violence between the two religions.

There were two further inexplicable features of the bombing. The six suicide bombings took place almost simultaneously in different parts of the country. The logistical complexity of this operation exceeded any previously seen in Sri Lanka. Even during the three decade long civil war that pitted the Sri Lankan military against the LTTE, which had earned international notoriety for suicide attacks, Sri Lanka had rarely witnessed such a synchronised operation. The country’s former Attorney General, Dappula de Livera, who investigated the bombing at the time it took place, later stated, upon retirement, that there was a “grand conspiracy” behind the bombings. That phrase has remained central to public debate because it suggested that the visible perpetrators may not have been the only planners behind the attack.

The other inexplicable factor was that intelligence services based in India repeatedly warned their Sri Lankan counterparts that the bombings would take place and even gave specific targets. Later investigations confirmed that warnings were transmitted days before the attacks and repeated again shortly before the explosions, yet they were not acted upon. It was these several inexplicable factors that gave rise to the surmise of a mastermind behind the students and religious fanatics led by the extremist preacher Zahran Hashim from the east of the country, who also blew himself up in the attacks. Even at the time of the bombing there was doubt that such a complex and synchronised operation could have been planned and executed by the motley band who comprised the suicide bombers.

Determined Attempt

The book by PHU leader Gammanpila is a determined attempt to make explicable the inexplicable by marshalling logic and evidence that this complex and synchronised operation was planned and executed by Zahran himself. This is a possible line of argumentation in a democratic society. Competing interpretations of public tragedies are part of political discourse. However, the timing of the intervention makes it politically more significant. The launch of the PHU leader’s book comes at a critical time when the protracted investigation into the Easter bombing appears to be moving forward under the present government.

The performance of the three previous governments at investigating the bombing was desultory at best. The Supreme Court held former President Maithripala Sirisena and several senior officials responsible for failing to act on prior intelligence and ordered compensation to victims. This judicial finding gave legal recognition to what victims had long maintained, that there was a grave dereliction of duty at the highest levels of the state. In recent weeks the investigation has taken a dramatic turn with the arrest and court production of former State Intelligence Service chief Suresh Sallay on allegations linked directly to the attacks. Whether these allegations are ultimately proven or disproven, they indicate that the present phase of the investigation is moving beyond negligence into possible complicity.

This is why the present moment requires political sobriety. There is a danger that the line of political division regarding the investigation into the Easter bombing can take on an ethnic complexion. The insistence that the suicide bombers alone were the planners and executors of the dastardly crime makes the focus invariably one of Muslim extremism, as the suicide bombers were all Muslims. This may unintentionally narrow public attention away from the unanswered questions regarding intelligence failures, possible political manipulation, and the allegations of a broader conspiracy that remain under active investigation. The minority political parties representing ethnic and religious minorities appear to have realised this danger. Their absence from the book launch was politically significant. It suggests an unwillingness to be drawn into a narrative that could once again stigmatise an entire community for the crimes of a handful of extremists and their possible handlers.

Another Tragedy

It would be another tragedy comparable in political consequence to the havoc wreaked by the Easter bombing if moderate mainstream political parties, such as the SJB to which the Leader of the Opposition belongs, were to subscribe to positions merely to score political points against the present government. They need to guard against the promotion of anti-minority sentiment and the fuelling of majority prejudice against ethnic and religious minorities. Indeed, opposition leader Sajith Premadasa in his Easter message said that justice for the victims of the 2019 Sri Lanka Easter Sunday attacks remains a fundamental responsibility of the state and noted that seven years on, both past and present governments have failed to deliver accountability. He added that building a society grounded in trust and peace, uniting all ethnicities, religions and communities, is vital to ensure such tragedies do not occur again.

Sri Lanka’s post war history offers too many examples of how unresolved security crises become vehicles for majoritarian mobilisation. The Easter tragedy itself was followed by waves of anti-Muslim suspicion and violence in some parts of the country. Responsible political leadership should seek to prevent any return to that atmosphere. There are many other legitimate issues on which the moderate and mainstream opposition parties can take the government to task. These include the lack of decisive action against government members accused of corruption, the passing of the entire burden of rising fuel prices on consumers instead of the government sharing the burden, and the failure to hold provincial council elections within the promised timeframe. These are issues that touch the daily lives of citizens and the health of democratic governance. They offer the opposition ample ground on which to build credibility as a government in waiting.

The search for truth and justice over the Easter bombing needs to continue until all those responsible are identified, whether they were direct perpetrators, negligent officials, or political actors who may have exploited the tragedy. This is what the victim families want and the country needs. But this search must not be turned into a partisan and religiously divisive matter such as by claiming that there are more potential suicide bombers lurking in the country who had been followers of Zaharan. If it is, Sri Lanka risks replacing one national tragedy with another. coming together to discredit the ongoing investigations into the Easter bombing of 2019 is an unacceptable use of ethno-religious nationalism to politically challenge the government. The opposition needs to find legitimate issues on which to challenge the government if they are to gain the respect and support of the general public and not their opprobrium.

by Jehan Perera

Features

China’s new duty-free regime for Africa: Implications for Global Trade and Sri Lanka

Published

14 hours ago

2026/04/7

Sahan Weerasooriya

Image courtesy The Global Times

* The new duty-free regime for Africa, announced by Chinese President Xi Jinping in February, is the most generous unilateral nonreciprocal trade concession offered by any country to developing countries since the beginning of the modern rule based international trading system.

* Yet, it is a clear violation of the cornerstone of the multilateral trade law, the Most-Favoured-Nation (MFN) principle.

* Hence, its implications on developing countries, without duty-free access to China, will be extremely negative. Sri Lanka is one of the few developing countries without duty-free access to China.

On 14 February, 2026, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced that China will grant zero-tariff treatment to 53 African nations, effective 01 May, 2026. Under this new unilateral policy initiative, China would eliminate all import tariffs on all goods imported from all the countries in Africa, except Eswatini. China already enforces a zero-tariff policy for 33 Least Developed Countries (LDCs) in Africa. Now this policy would be extended to non LDCs as well. This policy initiative clearly aims at reducing the continuously expanding trade deficit between China and Africa. In 2024, China’s trade surplus against Africa was recorded at US $ 61 billion.

This trade initiative, a precious gift amidst ongoing global trade tensions, is the most generous unilateral nonreciprocal trade concession given by any country to developing countries, since the beginning of the modern rule based international trading system.

Though this landmark announcement has far-reaching implications on global trade, as much as President Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs, it was almost overlooked by the global media.

Implications for Global Trade

This Chinese policy initiative, though very generous, is a clear violation of the Most-Favoured-Nation (MFN) principle and the “Enabling Clause” of the International Trade Law. The MFN principle is the cornerstone of the multilateral trading system under the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and is enshrined in Article I of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). It mandates that any trade advantage, privilege, or immunity granted by a WTO member to any country must be extended immediately and unconditionally to all other WTO members. Though, the GATT “Enabling Clause” allows developed nations to offer non-reciprocal preferential treatment (lower tariffs) to developing countries without extending them to all WTO members, this has to be done in a non-discriminatory manner. By extending tariff concessions only to developing countries in Africa, China has also breached this requirement.

This deliberate violation of the MFN principle by China occurs less than 12 months after the announcement of “Liberation Day” tariffs by President Trump, which breached Article I (MFN) and Article II (bound rates) of the GATT. However, it is important to underline that the objectives of the actions by the two Presidents are poles apart; the US objective was to limit imports from all its trading partners, and China’s objective is to increase imports from African countries.

Though the importance of the MFN principle of the WTO law had eroded over the years due to the proliferation of preferential trade agreements and unilateral preferential arrangements, the WTO members almost always obtained WTO waivers, whenever they breached the MFN principle. Now the leaders of the main trading powers have decided to violate the core principles of the multilateral trading system so brazenly, the impact of their decisions on the international trading system will be irrevocable.

Implications for Sri Lanka

China’s unilateral decision to provide zero-tariff treatment to African countries will have a strong adverse impact on Sri Lanka. Currently, all Asian countries, other than India and Sri Lanka, have duty-free access, for most of their exports, into the Chinese market through bilateral or regional trade agreements, or the LDC preferences. Though Sri Lanka, India and China are members of the Asia Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA), preferential margins extended by China under APTA to India and Sri Lanka are limited.

The value of China’s imports from Sri Lanka had declined from US$ 650 million in 2021 to US$ 433 million by 2025. However, China’s exports to Sri Lanka increased significantly during the period, from US$ 5,252 million to US$ 5,753 by 2025. This has resulted in a trade deficit of US$ 5,320 million. Sri Lanka’s exports to China may decline further from next month when African nations with duty-free access start to expand their market share.

Let me illustrate the challenges Sri Lanka will face in the Chinese market with one example. Tea (HS0902) is Sri Lanka’s third largest export to China, after garments and gems. Sri Lanka is the largest exporter of tea to China, followed by India, Kenya and Viet Nam. During the last five years the value of China’s imports of tea from Sri Lanka had declined significantly, from US$76 million in 2021 to US$ 57 million by 2025. Meanwhile, imports from our main competitors had increased substantially. Most importantly, imports from Kenya increased from US$ 7.9 million in 2021 to US$ 15 million in 2025. For tea, the existing tariff in China for Sri Lanka is 7.5% and for Kenya is 15%. From next month the tariff for Kenya will be reduced to 0%. What will be its impact on Sri Lanka exports? That was perhaps explained by a former Ambassador to Africa, when he urged Sri Lankan exporters to “leverage duty free access from Kenya” to expand their exports to China!

(The writer is a retired public servant and a former Chairman of WTO Committee on Trade and Development. He can be reached at senadhiragomi@gmail.com)

by Gomi Senadhira

Features

Daughter in the spotlight …

Published

14 hours ago

2026/04/7

Sahan Weerasooriya

Jeevarani Kurukulasuriya was a famous actress and her name still rings a bell with many. And now in the spotlight is her daughter Senani Wijesena – not as an actress but as a singer – and she has been singing, since the age of five!

The plus factor is that Senani, now based in Australia, is also a songwriter, plays keyboards and piano, dancer, and has filmed and edited some of her own music videos.

Says Senani: “I write the lyrics, melody and music and work with professional musicians who do the needful on my creations.”

Her latest album, ‘Music of the Mirror’, is made up of 16 songs, and her first Sinhala song, called ‘Nidahase’, is scheduled for release this month (April) in Colombo, along with a music video.

‘Nidahase’,

says Senani, is a song about Freedom … of life, movement, love and spirit. Freedom to be your authentic self, express yourself freely and Freedom from any restrictions.

In fact, ‘Nidahase’ is the Sinhala translated version of her English song ‘Free’ which made Senani a celebrity as the song was nominated for a Hollywood Music in Media Award in the RnB /Soul category and reached the Top 20 on the UK Music weekly dance charts, as well as No. 1 on the Yes Home grown Top 15, on Yes FM, for six weeks straight.

Senani went on to say that ‘Nidahase’ has been remixed to include a Sri Lankan touch, using Kandyan drums and the Thammattama drum, with extra music production by local music producer Dilshan L. Silva, and Australia-based Emmy Award winning Producer and Engineer Sean Carey … with Senani also in the scene.

The song was written (lyrics and melody) and produced by Senani and it features Australian musicians, while the music video was produced by Sri Lanka’s Sandesh Bandara and filmed in Sri Lanka.

First Sinhala song scheduled for release this month … in Colombo

Senani’s music is mostly Soul, Funk and RNB – also Fusion, using ethnic sounds such as the tabla, sitar, and sarod – as well as Jazz influenced.

“I also have Alternative Music songs with a rock edge, such as ‘New Day’, and upcoming releases ‘Fly High’ and ‘Whisper’“, says Senani, adding that she has also recorded in other languages, such as Hindi and Spanish.

“As much of my fan base are Sri Lankans, who have asked me to release a song in the Sinhala language, I decided to create and release ‘Nidahase’ and I plan to release other original Sinhala songs in the future.

Senani has a band in Australia and has appeared at festivals in Australia, on radio and TV in Australia, and Sri Lanka.

She trained as a vocalist, through Sydney-based Singing Schools, as well as private tuition, and she has 5th Grade piano music qualifications.

And this makes interesting reading:

“I graduated from the University of Newcastle in Australia with a Bachelor of Medicine and I work part time as a doctor (GP) and an Integrative Medicine practitioner, with a focus on nutrition, and spend the rest of the time dedicated to my music career.”

Senani hails from an illustrious family. In addition to her mum, Jeevarani Kurukulasuriya, who made over 40 films, including starring in the first colour movie ‘Ranmuthu Duwa’, her dad is Dr Lanka Wijesena (retired GP) and she has two sisters – all musical; one is a doctor, while the other is a dietitian/ psychotherapist.