Police use water cannons to disperse BYJM members marching to the state education department headquarters in Kolkata on Tuesday. (Express Photo) Police on Tuesday used water cannons to disperse the protesting Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) workers during a march to the state education department headquarters in Kolkata against the alleged School Service Commission (SSC) scam.
The BJP’s youth wing had given a call for a march in protest against the alleged irregularities in the appointment of teachers in state-run schools. The protest march was led by BJYM national president Tejasvi Surya and BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar.
Surya claimed that nearly 25 BJYM members were injured and were admitted to different hospitals, adding that the police also charged on the protesters with batons.
The police had set up three-layered barricades to stop the protesters from reaching Bikash Bhawan. They even tried to persuade the activists to stop their march but the latter paid no heed and broke through the first barricade, prompting the police to use water cannons against them. The protesters later sat on a dharna on the road against the police action.
“The state government and police are trying to snatch away our democratic right to protest. If there is injustice and corruption, we will protest. But the way our right to protest is being curbed is undemocratic,” said Surya.
Best of Express Premium
At a press conference later, Surya said, “The police attacked our workers with batons. We pleaded with them to arrange transport to carry our injured workers to hospital, but to no avail. I have not seen such barbaric and politicised police force in the country. It is a matter of shame that Mamata Banerjee is presiding over such lawlessness in West Bengal.”
Accused Banerjee of behaving like Hitler, he said, “This is a dictatorial government. Our constitutional right is being snatched.”
Majumdar said Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has killed democracy in West Bengal. “We asked police to arrest or detain us but not resort to lathi-charge. But they did not listen to us. This police action will not help hide the corruption in recruitment of school teachers. Recommendations made by several MLAs in their official letter pads were taken into consideration for appointment of teachers. We have a list of such names,” he said.
State education minister Bratya Basu said, “Those involved in the Vyapam scam have come here to protest. Fresh recruitments will be held with full transparency. When we are in the process of hiring, what’s the point of a protest like this? If anyone is found guilty they will be punished.”Also, some Congress workers staged a protest outside Raj Bhawan to protest against the arrest of Gujarat MLA Jignesh Mevani.
The police, however, removed the protesters from the area.
- The Indian Express website has been rated GREEN for its credibility and trustworthiness by Newsguard, a global service that rates news sources for their journalistic standards.
