Judge-turned-BJP MP Abhijit Gangopadhyay on Wednesday told a group of dismissed school employees not to “ask such foolish questions” and to “ask the Supreme Court” when they sought a solution to the impasse.
Gangopadhyay had gone to meet the school service commission chairperson in Salt Lake on Wednesday with the pledge to work out a solution.
When he was boarding his car after the meeting with the chairperson, some of the dismissed employees asked Gangopadhyay, “Sir, amader chakri ta thakbe toh (Sir, will we still have our jobs)?”
The former judge turned to the group and said: “Don’t ask such foolish questions. Go and ask the Supreme Court about this. You don’t know what to ask whom. You don’t deserve to be a teacher. Go.”
Gangopadhyay slammed the door of his car and left.
As he had volunteered to help and came to meet the SSC chief, an assembly formed in front of the office. Many said they had hoped Gangopadhyay, who had heard the recruitment cases as a Calcutta High Court judge, was “going to bring us some relief”.
As a judge, Gangopadhyay had ordered a CBI probe into the alleged irregularities in the recruitment of teaching and non-teaching staff.
When he told the gathering to “go and ask the Supreme Court”, many wondered why he had come to the SSC office.
“We pinned our hopes on him because he knew the case in and out. Since he held a meeting with the chairperson and said that the segregation of deserving and undeserving candidates was possible, we asked him whether we would still have our jobs. But he left it to the Supreme Court,” said a dismissed teacher.
The BJP MP from Tamluk, who was scheduled to meet Bratya Basu at Bikash Bhavan later, cancelled the meeting with the education minister.
“I am upset with the way police beat up the sacked and aggrieved teachers at the district inspector of schools’ offices across the state. This government believes in repression. Therefore, there was no point in holding any talks with the minister,” said Gangopadhyay.
Minister Basu told reporters that Gangopadhyay was so upset but still went to the SSC office just two minutes from Bikash Bhavan, the education secretariat.
“He went to the SSC office at 12.30pm. By then, the incident at the DI office in Kasba had happened. He did not have any problem meeting the SSC chairperson. But the incident in Kasba became so upsetting for him that he couldn’t meet me,” the minister said.
“Was there any political compulsion or pressure from his party? Remember, it was Gangopadhyay who proposed a meeting and suggested that everybody rise above their political identities to end the stalemate,” Basu said.
Gangopadhyay was supposed to meet Basu at 2pm and hand a letter to him with his suggestions.
Basu was supposed to pass on the letter to chief minister Mamata Banerjee.
Instead, Gangopadhyay tore a piece of paper in front of the SSC office saying that was the letter.
Asked about the meeting, SSC chairperson Siddhartha Majumdar said: “We heard what the former judge had to say.”