Mumbai:
The controversy over whether it gave enough credit where it's due saw Aamir Khan's movie 3 Idiots making waves. And it was not a proud moment for Bollywood when the film's producer, Vidhu Vinod Chopra, yelled "shut up" at the press. Chopra lost his cool while discussing whether author Chetan Bhagat, on whose book the film is based, has been sidelined.
Now, the film's producers may have another unenviable drama on their hands. Did the film inspire college students who were found guilty of ragging their juniors? The Maharashtra Education Minister, Vijay Kumar Gavit, intends to find out.
"It is being said the ragging incident was inspired by a film. If that's the case we'll look into it. We'll watch the film to see if the students were inspired by the film," he says.
On Sunday, 18 students from the physiotherapy programme at King Edward Memorial Hospital's medical college were arrested for ragging 10 juniors on New Year's Eve. The senior students have been expelled from their hostel.
The students do, not, however, have to leave college.
Sanjay Oak, the Dean of Seth G S medical college and KEM hospital at Parel, said the question of expelling the students from the college was discussed "extensively" but all the senior professors felt that it would "still be imprudent" to displace somebody from his academic career and that was why this step was not taken.
He also said the expelled students will not be eligible for any fellowships or freeships which they are entitled to.
R K Raghavan, who helped form the Supreme Court's guidelines on ragging, says, "Arrest sends right signal. Without arrests law cannnot be enforced. Arrest is unfortunate but it's a lesson for others. Without arrest we can't stop goondaism."