Talk about solidarity during a protest. After he began a sit-in protest when a suspension order was served on him, a handicapped Assistant Librarian at a Kanniyakumar college was joined by his wife and two young children. And they stayed at the college till 10 pm when the police arrived and forcibly asked them to vacate the premises. "I had been sitting here since 9 am. Initially I was in the room next to the Principal's room, but they called me out to have a mediation and shut the door when I stepped out, said R Sathishkumar, who is 75 per cent disabled.
Sathish has been working at the Vivekananda College in Agatheeswaram for nearly 12 years now and was at the Polytechnic wing of the group before moving to the Arts and Science college five years ago. He alleges that he has been 'harassed' for over two years over financial discrepancies that crept up during his tenure in the polytechnic college, "For the past two years I have been suffering harassment from the administration. They have issues within the administration and because I have worked with the previous ones as well, I am being targetted. I need protection because I don't know what they will do to me."
The suspension was a bolt out of the blue because he felt that had cleared all the departmental enquiries with elan, "When I came to sign my attendance, they didn't let me. The peon told me that I have been suspended. The Principal told me that as a result of the enquiry, after 42 days, I have been suspended," he said before adding, "Many of the teachers have expressed their support for me. The Principal tried to convince me to take the suspension order but I am firm that I will not do it."
At around 10 pm, the police arrived and ensured that Sathish and his family were evicted from the premises, "I was willing to get arrested because my entire family is dependent on this salary I make. Without this we will have to commit suicide. But because I did not want my children to suffer, I returned home," he said sadly.
Disability Rights group TARATDAC's State Secretary S Namburajan said that the suspension was 'illegal' and said that they would intensify the stir on his behalf if his suspension was not revoked.
The management of the college declined to comment on this issue.
