The University Grants Commission (UGC) on Tuesday said that its notice on Rag Day at public and private universities was meant to stop obscenity, nudity and DJ dances during the celebrations in line with a recent High Court order.
On Sunday, the UGC issued separate notices for both public and private universities in line with the High Court's directive. The notice went viral on social media due to a mix-up of two issues – Rag Day and Ragging, leading to ambiguity over a ban on Rag Day celebrations at the end of the academic year.
The notice, as well as the court order, also mentioned "cruel acts and bullying" which many netizens have identified as a menace called "ragging".
"Keeping the court order unchanged, we mentioned in the notice that in the name of Rag Day celebrations, all forms of obscenity, nudity, DJ party, indecent behavior, cruel and forbidden activities and bullying must be stopped immediately," UGC Chairman (in-charge) Prof Dil Afroza Begum told Dhaka Tribune.
"If the High Court passes a wrong order or verdict, that is not our concern,'' she added.
"Our concern was to notify all universities. We just followed the order and we cannot fix any errors. The UGC has issued a notice keeping the language used by the High Court unchanged," she added.
Md Omar Faruque, director of the UGC's Private University Division, said: "We did not direct anyone to stop the celebration of Rag Day in the UGC notice."
The High Court on April 17 gave the authorities concerned one month to take necessary steps to stop naked, obscene, crazy, vulgar and objectionable activities, including DJ parties, in the name of observing Rag Day in all educational institutions across the country.
Earlier, lawyer Mohammad Kamrul Hassan had filed the public interest litigation, attaching newspaper clippings covering a number of incidents that had taken place at higher education institutions during “Rag Day” celebrations.
Dhaka Tribune could not reach Kamrul Hassan for his comments on the matter.
The High Court on February 16, 2020 ruled that ragging is a criminal offence and there is no bar to filing ragging-related cases under the purview of criminal acts. It also ordered the government to form anti-ragging panels.
The move means that if a student commits a serious crime in any educational institution of the country, legal action can be taken against him or her under criminal law. A draft policy by the Education Ministry was presented to the High Court in this regard.
