Police evict qualified job seekers sitting on hunger strike

Kolkata: Following a local court order, the Police midnight-last removed the agitating qualifiers of Teachers’ Eligibility Test (TET) candidates (2014), who had been on sit-in-demonstration and hunger strike near the State Primary Education Board Office in Salt Lake even as the opposition leaders including Suvendu Adhikari and actor-director Aparna Sen condemned the police action describing it as “brutality”.

Armed with a Calcutta High Court’s single bench order to clear the obstruction, if needed to impose section 144 Cr PC following a plea from the State Primary Education Board, (SPEB) the Bidhannagar Police on Thursday night removed the agitators after a verbal request to end the agitation for the job failed.

The TET qualifiers of 2014 had been on hunger strike for the past three days in front of the SPEB officer at Karunamayee ( Salt Lake) demanding employment.

Before removing the 2014 TET qualifiers at Karunamayee around 02 00 hours, the Police earlier removed the TET qualifiers of 2017 at Salt Lake in the might. The qualifiers were both males and females, who were on fast for about 84 hours.

Meanwhile, a petition has been moved ( Thursday night) in the double bench of Calcutta High court to challenge its single-judge order ( Justice Lapita Mukherjee), which is expected to be heard at the chief justice ( Prakash Srivastava) later on Friday, court sources said.

” The Trinamool govt is flouting the basic democratic rights of the hunger-strikers!,” movie-actor-director Aparna Sen said while reacting to Police action on the “peaceful” job seekers at Karunamayee.

” Section 144 issued against a non-violent protest! Why? I strongly condemn the undemocratic and unethical action of the West Bengal govt! ” the 76-year-old movie maker said on her social media on Friday.

Leader of the opposition Suvendu Adhikari, who already supported the demand for the TET qualifiers, asked if the state was: WB or Hitler’s Germany.

” WB’s current situation is alarming. Mamata Police applied brute force on agitating candidates of the Teacher Eligibility Test 2014 candidates at Salt Lake to forcefully end their legitimate sit-in demonstration near the State Primary Education Board Office. WB or Hitler’s Germany?” added the
Nandigram MLA.

Meanwhile, the opposition parties – the BJP – Left, and Congress – have called a state-wide protest on Friday against the “forcefully eviction” of job seekers in government-aided schools.

CPI(M) leader Minaskhi Mukherjee said they would intensify the agitation across the state.