123456 Kharagpur: Subal Soren, one of the 25,753 school teachers whose jobs were terminated following the April 2025 Supreme Court order, died on Friday morning at a private hospital in Kolkata after suffering a severe brain stroke on Aug 11. The 35-year-old from Remusarki village in Mohanpur, West Midnapore, was frequently seen participating in protests alongside others who lost their jobs.
After Soren suffered a stroke, he was initially admitted to Debra Hospital but was later transferred to a private facility in Kolkata due to the severity of his condition that led to significant bleeding in the brain.
Soren lived with his wife at a rented house in Debra where he worked as a teacher. Soren's family said he was under stress over the exam to become re-eligible as a teacher and blamed the state for his death.
Doctors said various factors contribute to a brain stroke, including hypertension and cholesterol. Stress is a contributing factor that often precipitates a stroke but was not the primary one, they said. "Stress increases blood pressure and narrows down arteries, causing a stroke. Cholesterol deposits often break away from arteries, infiltrate the brain and block the smaller arteries, triggering a brain stroke. These may or not be related to stress. But most living in cities with a rigorous work schedule can't escape stress," said Charnock Hospital consultant neurosurgeon Rohit Mishra, adding that it was very difficult to pinpoint any particular reason for a stroke.
Stress could even be the primary reason behind a stroke if it continues for a long period, said CMRI Hospital neurosurgeon Rathijit Mitra. "Body releases its own steroid, cortisone, and if stress persists, its level goes up. This can trigger high blood pressure, sugar, cholesterol and eventually a stroke," said Mitra.
On hearing the news of his death, agitating teachers rushed to the hospital and held a protest on EM Bypass. They alleged that in the afternoon, cops tried to take away Soren's body in an ambulance. The former school teachers blocked the passageway to stop the ambulance. In Debra, protesters blockaded National Highway 16 with Soren's body. Attempts to clear the roadblock led to verbal altercations between protesters and cops, resulting in six arrests.
An officer said a police escort had been arranged to transport the body from Kolkata to Sarki village near Mohanpur. However, protesters demanded that the body be taken to the school in Debra where he taught, which was subsequently done. Despite this, they initiated a blockade on the highway with the hearse. After some time, traffic on the highway resumed normal flow.
Bikram Chandra Pradhan, MLA from Dantan, said, "It's a deeply saddening incident. He was a very good teacher. We will stand by the family.
"Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari held the govt responsible for the death, stating that the state should have accepted the high court order and submitted the list of "tainted" candidates. State Congress president Shubhankar Sarkar questioned why cops were in such a rush to take away the body, blaming the state for what happened.
Trinamool spokesperson Kunal Ghosh termed the death extremely unfortunate. "We have heard that he was among the eligible teachers. We are not aware of what ailment led to the death, but it was expected, and we had been saying this, that snatching away 26,000 jobs is inhuman. People, who had moved court seeking it, should have the answers for this death. A BJP MP has publicly spoken of taking away jobs. This is not about an individual, but their families," he said.
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