3 School Teachers End Fast Alleging Intimidation by TMC Workers

PTI, Kolkata, April 13, 2025 : Three school teachers, among the 25,753 individuals whose appointments were recently invalidated by the Supreme Court in connection with the SSC recruitment scam, have ended their indefinite hunger strike, alleging covert intimidation by members of the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC). The TMC, however, has firmly rejected the allegations, maintaining that it supports the rightful reinstatement of all deserving candidates.

“We are withdrawing our fast in the face of covert intimidation and threats by TMC activists who are roaming in the area. Though the police are present here, we don’t feel safe to sit in the open for hours,” said Suman Biswas, a former teacher at Nakashipara High School in Nadia district, speaking to PTI.

The hunger strike began on April 10 outside the Acharya Prafulla Chandra Bhavan in Salt Lake, which houses the office of the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC). Along with Biswas, two other dismissed teachers—Pankaj Roy and Pratap Kumar Saha—had joined the protest.

The Supreme Court, in a landmark judgment on April 3, declared the appointments of 25,753 teachers and non-teaching staff in state-run and state-aided schools invalid, terming the selection process “vitiated and tainted.”

Despite ending their fast on Sunday with coconut water offered by a civil rights activist, the teachers said their protest is far from over. “After mobilising more people who have already pledged support to our cause, we will resume the hunger strike. We will also step up protests across the state. We will not rest until the WBSSC publishes the list of candidates who got jobs based on merit and those who secured appointments through bribes,” Biswas asserted.

Reacting to the allegations, Trinamool Chatra Parishad (TMCP) president Trinankur Bhattacharya said, “The party or its affiliated wings are not involved in intimidating or threatening the agitating teachers. They are politicising the issue and blaming the TMC, which has also extended support to their cause. It remains to be seen if they are acting at the behest of the CPI(M) or the BJP