New Delhi: The protests by the sacked teachers in West Bengal against the state government has become more intense. On Friday, the city was embroiled in chaos as male teachers showed their anger and frustrated by protesting half-naked or baring their upper body.
The police, trying to subdue Friday’s scheduled protest rally of the sacked teachers even before it began, resorted to physically thrashing them, forcefully dragging some of them to the prison van. Some of the protesters were beaten up as police got into a violent clash with them.
In the morning, there were tension at the Sealdah station where the protesters gathered. The police were seen searching for the protesters and putting them in prison vans. The jobless people erupted in anger. Tensions flared up again in front of Bikash Bhavan in the afternoon. As people protested half-naked, massive scuffle with the police erupted. Finally, the police were seen dragging them into prison vans. The entire area took on the appearance of a battlefield.
One of the protesters, naked and angry, was seen getting into the prison van. He vented his anger in front of the camera against the police, saying, “Let them kill us, let them shoot us.” Another person said, “We have been forced to lose our jobs today because of government corruption. This government has to give us back our clothes. How they give them back is up to them. We can’t go out into society. Different people are asking different questions. Answering them is the same as standing here naked.”
The protesters had already called for a half-naked procession on May 30. The gathering was scheduled to begin at Sealdah station at 11 am. Although the protesters were not seen in large numbers, the police were seen occupying the Sealdah station premises in advance. A large number of female police officers were also deployed. The protesters were taken away in police vehicles as soon as they were seen.
Meanwhile, protests again erupted in the Bikash Bhavan premises. The police forcibly removed them from there. Some of the protesters have been reportedly injured while one protesters showed an injury and claimed that police kicked him. The police even entered a shopping mall at Dorina Crossing to find the protesters. As the city is wrapped in chaos, the sacked teachers are desperately agitating to get their livelihood back.
