In for long haul, teachers invite all to sit-in; no more ‘go back’ slogans at leaders
Telegraph | 17 May 2025
BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari visited the sacked school employees on a sit-in outside Bikash Bhavan on Friday evening and was invited to speak on the dais erected by the protesters, who were no longer averse to being seen with Opposition politicians.
Adhikari and other BJP leaders like Sajal Ghosh arrived around 7.10pm, but they did not carry party flags, a condition that the protesters have set for politicians wishing to visit the protest site outside Bikash Bhavan. CPM leader Shatarup Ghosh, too, spoke from the dais earlier in the evening.
“We will not shout ‘go back’ slogans at anyone. Representatives of any political party can come to our protest site, but they must come without their party flags and should speak for us,” said Suman Biswas, a sacked schoolteacher.
“We are inviting people from all walks of life to come and join our protest.”
A protesting teacher said: “We do not want our protests to fade out. Politicians might help us achieve our goal. We will not shout ‘go back’ slogans at any politician.”
The protesters started gathering outside Bikash Bhavan from early on Friday. A fairly large police contingent was already present outside the state education department’s headquarters from morning. Their numbers swelled with time.
Around 9.30am, some protesters pulled down guardrails put up by the police as a layer of defence to thwart the agitators from reaching the gate of Bikash Bhavan.
On Thursday evening, the police had used force to remove the protesters who had confined employees and visitors inside Bikash Bhavan for hours. Many protesters alleged the police struck them with batons and they suffered injuries that needed treatment in hospitals.
Several sacked school employees who were allegedly injured on Thursday evening were resting under the Central Park Metro station, outside the gate of Bikash Bhavan. Some of them had bandages around their arms, wrists and legs.
Krishna Gopal Das, 38, a geography teacher of Huda Vidyapith High School in Nadia’s Krishnanagar, said the police hit his left wrist and waist.
“I was beaten up by the police when I went to protect my colleague who was being beaten up by them. However, we will not move away from here despite the attack on us,” said Das.
Unlike Thursday, when the protesters had broken the iron gates of Bikash Bhavan, the police did not allow them to reach near the gate that was being repaired on Friday afternoon.
All employees were allowed to enter Bikash Bhavan only after the cops had checked their identity cards.
The protesters were sitting on the service road outside. A dais for a Dhikkar Sabha (denouncement assembly) against the alleged police assault had also been set up on the service road. The cops had, however, cordoned off the main road in front of Bikash Bhavan heading to Karunamoyee. Vehicles headed to Karunamoyee from City Centre had to take a detour.
Chairs and loudspeakers meant to relay what was being said in the assembly started arriving in the afternoon. A woman, a resident of Salt Lake, had come with a jar of drink for the protesters.
Brindaban Ghosh, a Bengali teacher at SM High School, said they were prepared for a long haul. “We will not leave this place till we get an assurance from the education department that we will not have to sit for an exam again,” he said.
Some junior doctors who were at the forefront of the RG Kar protests last year also joined the sit-in. They carried ORS powder, water bottles and dry food for the sacked school employees.