Eight girl students protesting against the transfer of a teacher in Dharmanagar in North Tripura district were admitted to hospital on Tuesday after people from the school management committee tried to stop them from protesting and allegedly assaulted them.
This incident was reported by Chief Minister Dr. Manik Sahawho also holds the education portfolio, visited the district to inaugurate the newly constructed school building.
The school board members involved in the incident are believed to be local residents. Bharatiya Janata Festival (Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)), its leaders, although the Saffron Party distanced itself and said it had no information about the incident and that if anyone attacks students, the law must be applied regardless of their political colour.
The protest took place at Jiban Higher Secondary School in Tripura district where Brajalal Nath, a teacher who joined the school three months ago, was transferred, sparking anger among students who said his classes were beneficial. Nath is organising online recovery classes apart from other student-friendly initiatives that are becoming popular among school children, sources said.
The aggrieved students blocked the Dharmanagar-Kailashahar road and demanded cancellation of their teacher's transfer. Speaking to reporters, a student said, “We want our teachers to continue teaching us. We demanded this when some people came to attack us. They raised their hands towards us and attacked us physically.”
As the protests intensified after locking the school's main gate and blocking the nearby main road, police from the local police station rushed to control the situation. A group of local residents also intervened to ask the students to lift the roadblock.
The students said a number of people, who they said were members of the school's management committee, tried to intimidate them, insulted them and even physically assaulted some of them.
Later, eight girls were taken to Dharmanagar district hospital after being rescued by firefighters. Some students said they fell unconscious and were taken to hospital. Moutushi Das, a student of Class 10, and Anupriya Nath and Ishita Nath of Class 8 and others were discharged after treatment.
One of the people accused of physically assaulting the students denied the allegations and said he went to the protest site to calm the situation. He claimed the students remained on the road for about 30 minutes and that this could have caused them to lose consciousness due to the heat.
Some students and their parents said they would approach the police station to lodge a complaint in this regard. However, no complaint has been officially registered till the arrival of the latest report.
Talk to indianexpress.comA Tripura police officer said, “A teacher of the school was transferred and some students tried to protest. As far as we know, people from the school management committee went to discuss the issue with the protesters. However, some students were unwell for reasons yet unknown and later claimed that they were assaulted. We have not received any complaint so far.”
BJP state spokesperson Nabendu Bhattacharjee said the saffron party had no information about the incident. “If there is any such incident where someone attacks girl students, he should report it to the police and I am sure they will take appropriate action as per law, irrespective of the party he belongs to. The law will take its course,” Bhattacharjee said.
