When Childhood Is Betrayed: The Bruises Our Schools Refuse to See

An Alarm that should Shake India Awake

A 12-year-old cadet dies in Sainik School, East Siang, Arunachal Pradesh. His famous sister, Tadu Lunia, the Miss Arunachal 2024, cries in the social media platforms that her brother was murdered. Her brother was tortured because of her celebrity status. She thinks that her fame became a curse for her brother. The school authority describing it as suicide. Is this a tragedy? No. This is terror in uniform. And if this doesn’t alarm us, what will? Across India, from north to south, and from west to east, students are dying in schools where ‘respect’ is earned through fear and ‘tradition’ is an alibi for torture. Each death whispers the same truth: our classrooms have become battlegrounds — not for learning, but for power, hierarchy, and tradition.

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The 1996 Lesson We Refused to Learn

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In 1996, India wept for Pon Navarasu, a bright medical student who was murdered and dismembered by his senior, John David. The crime birthed India’s first anti-ragging law. Twenty-nine years later, we have more rules, more committees, and more graves. That 1996 case was not merely ragging; it was the caste system in a hostel room, the class system in a corridor, the arrogance of hierarchy dressed up as mentorship.

The Silent Epidemic in........

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