Protestors have resumed their agitation a dayt after series of violent clashes broke out between agitating school teachers and police in and around the headquarters of the West Bengal Education Department. The teachers, who lost their job, following a court order that cancelled thousands of appointments in government-aided schools due to irregularities in the recruitment process, broke the barricade outside the Bikash Bhavan, and started their agitation afresh, raising slogans against the West Bengal government.
According to news agency PTI citing a member of the Deserving Teachers' Rights Forum, many teachers who were injured on Thursday returned to the protest site and joined the demonstration. They have been demanding immediate steps for the permanent reinstatement of their jobs and that they should not be asked to appear for a fresh recruitment test after cracking the 2016 School Service Commission (SSC) exams.
News agency PTI reported that several protestors have claimed that many members of the forum continued a sit-in outside the Bikash Bhavan throughout the night.
Meanwhile, reacting the incident, BJP Bengal unit attacked the government and called the police action on agitating school teachers a day ago, a "horrifying display of brutality".
Regarding yesterday's incident, ADGP Jawed Shamim said that a huge crowd of teachers gathered before the Bikash Bhavan and agitated and broke the barricades, trying to enter the premises.
"Police tried to reason with them, but they would not listen... They broke the gates open and caused a lot of damage... They flooded the whole premises... The Bikash Bhavan doesn't only house the education department. There are 58 total departments...and more than 500 employees work there... We thought that we had to show extreme restraint and caution in dealing with them to arrive at an amicable solution... The office hours end at 5:30 pm... The people wanted to leave. The protesters were adamant that nobody would be allowed to leave... They locked the gates... We negotiated with them from 5:30 pm onwards, which went on till 8:30 pm," ADGP Jawed added as quoted by news agency ANI.
"The police were pleading with them to carry on with the agitation but let the Government employees leave... The employees were a kind of hostage situation... So ultimately finding no other option, police tried to make a way... We tried to cordon off, made a made a carriageway through which we tried to ensure that people are able to make a safe exit possible... The agitators started throwing stones and plastic bottles at the police... There was a standoff... The minimum required force was applied... The whole purpose to send the employees home... One is a bit serious, others have small injuries, and there are around 19 injured that we have come to know as of now...," he further said as quoted by news agency ANI.
(With input from agencies)