Screen grab from the footage of the GD Goenka bus attack. (File)
Footage from a CCTV camera inside the GD Goenka World School’s bus which was attacked last week, captures the confusion and chaos that prevailed as group of people protesting against the release of Padmaavat targeted the bus with teachers and students seated inside. The 37 seconds long footage shows students, oblivious to the violence that was ensuing across the district, looking out of their windows to determine what was happening, some of them standing in front of their seats for a better view.
Teachers and staff had stated last week that the Haryana Roadways bus, which had been torched by protesters only moments before, had made them curious and given a premonition that something was wrong. The feeling was confirmed when groups of men suddenly emerged from the bushes and began hurling stones at police personnel, and a PCR van, with a handful of them also targeting the school bus.
The CCTV camera captures the moment of impact, when the first stone collided with the windshield, making students seated in the front rows duck to get out of the path of the “weapon”, which would have headed straight for them had it broken through the glass. Other students, however, can be seen to take longer to understand the developments, only getting down on the ground once the protestors are close enough to attack the “double glass windows” with rods and sticks.
Caught unawares, a teacher and a student are seen to barely escape injury, ducking only a fraction of a second before the rod of a protestor shatters the window they had been looking out of, and shards of glass fill the air.
The conductor can briefly be seen in the footage, helping a teacher seated in the front to move to a row further back, where she may be safer, and then rushing off to the front to encourage the driver to speed away, before he returns into view to instruct the passengers to remain on the floor.
The footage has surfaced even as the chief minister, on Friday, visited the school’s campus in Bhondsi, to “speak to the children who were so brave”.
During his impromptu visit, Manohar Lal Khattar, listed to the accounts of the staff and students, and attempted to reassure them that such an incident would not be repeated.
“The day this incident happened, I saw that scene on the television and kept thinking why did this happen with these children…Everyone has the right to say what they want in a democratic country like ours in a peaceful manner, but pelting stones like this to make hurdles for others is not right…It is your courage in the face of such an incident that has shown through, especially that of your teachers, who must be lauded for the way they shielded you.” Said Khattar.
Speaking to the press afterwards, he added, “Ever since this incident happened, I felt I should go and speak to the children…I have spoken to them and am confident that in future…we will at least try to forget this incident. It should not have happened…People can have a different viewpoint…but we will not permit anyone to behave like this, especially with small children. People who are to blame for this will be penalized and security will be ensured for everyone.”
The incident had occured on January 25, when groups protesting against the release of Padmaavat took to the streets, torching trucks and buses and blocking roads. The school bus was transporting 30 students, and four teachers home after a working day when the vehicle was targeted at Bhondsi, where a Haryana Roadways Bus had also been torched.