TMC ‘fury’ on striking teachers : CCTV footage of attack ‘erased’ in Hooghly school

Alleged Trinamul supporters block the entrance to Hatsimla Junior High School in East Burdwan’s Purbasthali to prevent teachers from entering on Saturday

Alleged Trinamul supporters block the entrance to Hatsimla Junior High School in East Burdwan’s Purbasthali to prevent teachers from entering on Saturday: Dip Das

TT Bureau   |   Calcutta   |   12.03.23 : Trinamul Congress activists have been accused of abusing and assaulting teachers who struck work on Friday over dearness allowance, preventing them from entering school on Saturday and in one instance calling a technician to erase CCTV footage of an attack.

Sources said Trinamul leaders along with hundreds of their supporters raided dozens of schools in Howrah, Hooghly, Bankura, Nadia and East Burdwan on Saturday and stopped teachers from entering for hours. 

In some schools, teachers were beaten up allegedly by ruling party-backed goons for taking part in the strike over the demand for DA parity with central government staff. 

“In many places, the ruling party-backed goons came in the guise of guardians to attack teachers. The state government can take administrative action against us, but we faced political action instead,” said Chandan Maiti, the general secretary of an outfit of headmasters and headmistresses.

Teachers of Rajbalhat High School in Hooghly’s Janigpara on Saturday lodged a complaint with police accusing 200 people of barging into the teachers’ room and beating up five of them. They claimed the goons abused lady teachers, disconnected power supply and brought a technician to delete CCTV footage of the attack.

“Local Trinamul leaders, including Joydeb Shil, led the attack and they brought a technician to erase the CCTV footage,” said teacher Ratan Santra.

The school education department has sought instructions from state secretariat Nabanna on the steps against teachers and non-teaching staff of schools who did not report to duty on Friday, the day when a number of state government employees’ unions called a strike for DA parity.

“We have primarily sent a list of about 6,000 teachers from across the state to Nabanna who did not report for duty on Friday. The figure may reach 25,000 when we get the final report on Monday. We have sought Nabanna’s guidance on the steps to be initiated against these teachers,” said a senior official in the school education department.

An official pointed out that though the government in its order cancelling all leaves on Friday stated the steps to be initiated against those who would not report for work, the school education department will take measures only after the instructions reach Bikash Bhavan.

Maiti said his organisation told the home secretary about attacks on the teaching fraternity for taking part in a peaceful strike. 

“We want the chief minister to take steps against those who attacked and abused teachers,” he added. 

Priyaranjan Ghatak, the secretary of the CPM-backed teachers’ association ABTA, said a bigger movement would be launched if the police did not take stern steps against the attackers. 

Snehasis Chakraborty, transport minister and Hooghly’s Trinamul chief, said he was not aware of any attack. “I don’t know of any such attack....  The allegations are subject to probe,” he said.