Members of two CPI(M)-backed teachers' organisations clashed with the police in the northern West Bengal city of Siliguri on Monday. Hundreds of members of the All Bengal Teachers' Association (ABTA) and All Bengal Primary Teachers' Association (ABPTA) were marching to 'Uttar Kanya', the north Bengal secretariat of the state government, from Jalpai More to press for their demands when they were stopped at the Tinbatti More area.
As they tried to break through the police barricades, a clash broke out. A police officer said the protesters were trying to move beyond the police cordon to the area where prohibitory orders were in place. "Mild force" along with water cannons had to be used to disperse them, he said.
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Later a five-member delegation of the teachers went to the secretariat to hand over a memorandum of their demands to the state government. Among the demands are increase in dearness allowance, non-implementation of NEP 2020, recruitment of eligible teaching job aspirants and arrest of all those accused in the school jobs scam.
CPI(M) Rajya Sabha MP Bikash Bhattacharya, who led the march, alleged, "The police action on the teachers brought to the fore the anti-people and anti-teacher face of the TMC government. Today's incident proves, this government is run by uneducated people." Many protesters were detained and later released, police said.
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The CPI(M) claimed that several teachers were injured in the police action, but police said it did not have information about serious injury to any agitator.
