The 10,323 retrenched teacher’s Joint Movement Committee (JMC) re-launched its agitation seeking a permanent solution to their problems after they lost their jobs on Court verdict and condemned the police showdown of January 27 last to break their indefinite sit-in demo – the Committee members alleged “the Police showdown was a barbaric show of power”.
JMC leader Dalia Das on Mondays said, “Instead of job, we got Lathi, Water Cannon and rubber bullets. Was it the way a government should treat people who had served for not less than ten years teaching in various schools?”.
Das was speaking at a protest meeting organized by the JMC in front of Rabindra Satabarshiki Bhavan located at the heart of the Agartala City. She alleged, the Chief Minister did not keep his promise pertaining to 10323 retrenched teachers
On October 03 last, the Chief Minister assured a delegation of 10,323 retrenched teachers that a permanent solution to their plight would be chalked out by the government within two months. But, to their utter surprise, Das said, nothing really happened and the sit-in stir that continued for 51 days, perhaps the longest uninterrupted protests of the state, was a fallout of it.
Defending the teachers who had been seen involved in mass vandalism, Das accused the government of showing no mercy to those who had lost jobs. “The tent where the protest was going on had been vandalised. The huge amount of money that was collected in the donation box was taken away by the police”.
According to Das, clothes, valuables and other necessary goods of the teachers that were kept in the place of agitation were taken away by the police and till date they were not aware of the whereabouts of their goods.
Das also lashed out at BJP MLA Dr Dilip Kumar Das also the chairman of Rogi Kalyan Samity of IGM hospital and said, “Huge number of agitating teachers received wounds during the barbaric attacks of the police. But, not extending sympathy towards the teachers, a ruling party MLA who is also a doctor had been seen directing the hospital officials not to give them proper treatment. He had instructed some hospital staff not to give them oxygen, expensive saline solution etc.”.
On being asked about their future course of action, she said, they would not retreat from the movement for their rights and chalk out their movement strategy after a meeting with all the leaders.