After an 84-hour-long sit-in protest demanding primary school teachers' jobs by 2014 TET qualifying candidates was halted after the police removed them from the area. Placards, slippers and newspaper pages carrying the news were found scattered in the Karunamoyee area on October 21 morning, as reported by PTI.
The PTI report said that over 500 protesters claimed that they have qualified for the 2014 Teachers Eligibility test (TET) but did not appear on the merit list. The protesters were dispersed by the police on the evening of October 20 as the authorities were mobilising resources. The protestors, including women, were shouting slogans and giving bytes to the media on Thursday night, as the authorities were mobilising resources after which the police dispersed them on the intervening night of Thursday and Friday. The police claimed that they are violating prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC (Code of Criminal Procedure) imposed there.
A police contingent led by senior officers took them in vehicles and dropped them at places in other parts of Kolkata, away from the protest site, stated the report. Five of the protestors were shifted to a hospital after they fell ill because of the hunger strike.
On Friday morning, it was noticed that the protest area was covered with torn newspapers, discarded sippers of the protestors and some placards that had slogans such as 'do or die' stated the report. The police officers present at the spot were seen asking passers-by not to stop there and move on.
Film Director Aparna Sen criticised the action of the police and accused the Trinamool Congress government of flouting the democratic rights of the people. "The Trinamool government is flouting the basic democratic rights of the hunger strikers; Section 144 issued against a non-violent protest. Why? I strongly condemn the undemocratic and unethical action of the West Bengal govt," she tweeted, stated the PTI report.
Leader of Opposition, Suvendu Adhikari of the BJP, tweeted, "West Bengal's current situation is alarming. Police applying brute force on agitating candidates of TET 2014 at Salt Lake to forcefully end their legitimate sit-in demonstration near the state Primary Education board office," as reported by PTI. He also shared several videos of the police personnel lifting protestors from the spot.
Trinamool Congress state spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said, "However, so far as the Karunamoyee incident is concerned, the protestors violated prohibitory orders and sat on a road before the board office. Police had to lift them as the movement was disrupting normal life," stated the report.
