Around 100 unemployed teachers, performing under the banner of the Dizrying Teachers Rights Forum, were detained at two places here while going to West Bengal State Secretariat, Nabanna. The group had gathered as eligible teachers demanding permanent restoration, in which the state’s instruction to take the recruitment examination was opposed.
In another demonstration, around 500 unemployed teachers took out a rally in the Central Park area of Salt Lake. Earlier in the day, hundreds of protesters gathered at Sealdah station and Esplaynade – about 2 kilometers – to start their march, when they were already stopped by policemen stationed.
A member of the forum said, “We were not allowed to conduct a democratic march in a peaceful manner. We only wanted to ask for time to meet CM Mamata Banerjee and tell them their situation and demand.” Around 500 teachers in Salt Lake, many of whom launched shirts as symbolic protests, gathered near Vikas Bhawan, the headquarters of West Bengal Education Department. When he refused to disperse, he was taken to jail vehicles.
The Deputy Commissioner of Police of Bidhannagar Anish Sarkar said, “While peaceful demonstrations are always allowed, the shirt is a violation of public decency and etiquette in the name of protest. The protesters have ignored the police repeated requests.” He said that as per the directive of the Calcutta High Court, arrangements were made to continue the picket for him in a specified shelter in Central Park.
Regarding protests in Sealdah and Aspland, Kolkata Police Deputy Commissioner (Central), Indira Mukherjee said that about 50 protesters were detained for an attempt to disrupt traffic and disrupt public system.
Mukherjee said that a protestor suffered a leg injury during a scuffle with female police officers near a mall in the asplayed area. Mukherjee said that he was taken to a nearby state -run Medical College Hospital for immediate treatment. He said, “As police personnel, we cannot comment on their demands or agitation. But we came to know about the efforts to create law and order situation.”
The police also investigated the identity card in the surrounding area, including riding in public buses to search for hidden protesters. The protesting teachers have been giving indefinite dharna outside the West Bengal Education Department headquarters for the last 22 days.
Their agitation took place after the Supreme Court’s 3 April decision, in which 25,753 teaching and non-teaching appointments made through the 2016 School Services Commission (SSC) recruitment, citing widespread irregularities, were rejected.
“We are firm to continue the protest. We will discuss the next step,” said Chinmay Mandal, spokesman of the forum detained during the protests in Asplaynade. He also referred to the recent death of 35 -year -old Prabin Karmakar, a sick teacher from Murshidabad, which is the tragic result of stress caused by uncertainty about his future.
Mandal said, “He was already under stress due to his medical condition. Hearing the statement of the Chief Minister that the qualified candidates would have to give a new exam, his condition worsened, causing him a deadly heart attack. He was the only earner of his family.” He appealed to the state government to hear his review petition in the Supreme Court soon. He said, “Due to SSC mistakes, no qualified and impeccable teacher should go through the shock of taking the exam again.” Meanwhile, the state government issued a notification for the recruitment of more than 40,000 teachers on Wednesday night. In the notification, additional marks have been given to candidates with pre -teaching experiences in government and government aided schools.
