Police personnel try to disperse Teachers and non-teaching staff during their protest over the Supreme Court’s order on SSC teacher recruitment, in Kolkata on April 9, 2025.
| Photo Credit: ANI
Protesting teachers started a relay hunger strike at the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) office in Kolkata on Thursday to condemn police brutality after they were baton charged on Wednesday. Protesting teachers have said they will continue the hunger strike till justice prevails. Details of the hunger strike are expected today (April 11). The teachers have also demanded that the WBSSC publish their OMR sheets.
Protests broke out across Kolkata on Thursday in support of the teachers who have been agitating over a Supreme Court ruling that annulled their recruitment. People from all walks of life, including junior resident doctors who were part of the RG Kar movement, joined the protesters after the police caned them on Wednesday (April 9).
The teachers led a rally from Sealdah to Esplanade, a distance of 8km, that took them over 1.5 hours. It concluded with a sit-in demonstration at Esplanade in the heart of the city.
Responding to allegations that they instigated the violence on April 9, a protesting teacher Sagar Mondal said that police were trying to save face. “We are deserving teachers, we never participated in any violence. They should publish the OMR sheets and clear the names of the deserving candidates. Why are they not doing it?” Mr. Mondal added.
Officials blame teachers
This came as West Bengal government officials blamed the teachers for provoking violence at the District Inspector (DI) of School office in Kolkata. Chief Secretary Manoj Pant, Commissioner of Police Manoj Kumar Verma, and State Education Minister Bratya Basu all concurred that the agitation was instigated by the teachers.
Visuals from the site showed police chasing protesters with lathis, hitting, stomping, and dragging them across the ground. The aggrieved teachers refuted the claims made by the authorities.
It has been alleged during the proceedings of this case at both the Supreme Court and Calcutta High Court that the OMR sheets have been destroyed. But aggrieved teachers claim that OMR sheets are with the SSC office and they are refusing to publish it for “political reasons.”
The Bharatiya Janta Party and Students Federation of India also conducted their own protest marches to condemn the police action. BJP workers raised slogans against the Trinamool Congress government, claiming the, “CM had stolen the jobs of deserving teachers.”
Senior TMC leader, and former Rajya Sabha MP, Kunal Ghosh, said people who lost their jobs should not get influenced by political parties and lose their way. “The CM has started the process to secure your jobs. Have faith in her,” Mr. Ghosh said.
Published – April 10, 2025 01:25 pm IST
