Police Use Batons on Protesting Teachers in Patna
Patna: January 29, 2008
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Teachers Lathi Charged
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Photo by Shashi Uttam |
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Over a dozens teachers under the banner of Bihar State Panchayat Teachers' Association were hurt when the police in Patna used batons to disperse more than 5,000 protestors demanding job permanency and a rise in their pay-scale.
The rally was headed to the Assembly building when they were stopped at the R-Block by the police officials from further advancement. What appeared in the beginning to be minor scuffle with the law-enforcement officials, the situation soon got out of control with protestors pelting stones on the police and tried to break the iron barricade in an attempt to move forward.
In retaliation, the police opened lathi charge on the agitators and arrested more than a dozen of them.
Senior police officials including Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Kundan Krishnan rushed to R-Block along with more reinforcement and the anti-riot vehicle Vajra to prevent the riot from spreading.
Earlier, the protestors took out their rally from Patna's Gandhi Maidan and after passing through the Dak Bungalow Crossing and Bailey Road, arrived at the R-Block where things soon got out of hand forcing the police to open lathi charge on the agitators.
Interestingly, one of the eight demands being made by the Teachers' Association includes no firing of teachers who had attained less than 45% in their high school final exams making one wonder how these so-called teachers are expected to teach the students when they could barely finish their own high schools.
Officials are now bracing for yet another Bihar bandh by the opposition parties in protest against today's lathi charge on the teachers.
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