Protesting teachers face police wrath, break barricades to proceed towards Tripura Assembly

Several agitating retracted teachers of Tripura popularly known as ‘10,323 Sikshak’ were injured and few sent to hospital for treatment as police and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) resorted to lathi charge, fired tear gas shells and used water cannons to resist and disperse them near Gandhi statue in Agartala.

The ‘terminated’ teachers took out a rally towards the Assembly demanding the government reinstate their jobs on Monday, September 26, when security forces stopped them.

Some of the female ex-teachers had to be sent to GB hospital as they were facing breathing problems beside being hit by baton during the charge.

Notably, hundreds of retrenched teachers, gathered from across the state at Rabindra Satabarshiki Bhavan area here and joined in the agitation ‘Bidhansabha Abhiyan’ demanding the government restore their jobs. 

Today is the last of the 12th session of the 12th Assembly and targeting to meet the Speaker and Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha so that their issue can be raised there and government takes some positive step towards resolving it.

The retrenched teachers were out on the streets and agitated on the basis of an RTI that they recently received from the Supreme Court which says that ‘as per record, you are not a party in SLP (C) Nos. 18993-19049/2014 titled The State of Tripura & Ors. & Etc. Vs Tanmoy Nath & Ors. & Etc..’

They alleged that due to the misinterpretation of the apex court order by the then director of education and who issued a common notification for termination of all 10323 teachers on 23 December 2017 they lost their job though all of them were not even parties in that case.

Today morning the retrenched teachers gathered before the Rabindra Satabarshiki Bhavan and started marching towards the Tripura Legislative Assembly, they were stopped by security forces who had put up barricades in the road near to the Mahatma Gandhi statue near Circuit House to prevent the agitators proceed towards the Assembly.

They raised slogans against the government and security forces for stopping them, however, security forces charged upon them beside using water cannons and fired tear gas shells and in which many of the were injured.

The delegation of retrenched teachers protested against the police action and raised three issues - either they are served individual notices why they are being terminated, or a termination letter be provided to every individual and then allowed them to attend school.