Fearing police, teachers jump into canal

Gurdeep Singh Mann

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, July 5

The police today lathicharged protesting teachers, a majority of them women, demanding their pending salaries. The police allegedly beat up, dragged and abused teachers, who had been protesting under the banner of the Shaheed Kiranjeet Kaur EGS-AIE-STR Union.

Three teachers, including a woman, jumped into the Sirhind canal to escape police wrath. DSP Gurmeet Kingra and ASI Kaur Singh jumped into the canal and took them out. Before taking them to the police station, they were beaten up again. Anu Thakur of Hoshiarpur, who received serious injuries in the incident, is being treated at the Civil Hospital. More than 12 other teachers also faced police assault.

SSP Indermohan Bhatti, however, claimed there was no police brutality. He denied that teachers were beaten up. “They have been arrested for blocking the national highway and taking law into their hands,” he said. He said a case had been registered, but feigned ignorance about the sections under which the protesters had been booked.

A number of teachers, who tried to take shelter in nearby houses and shops to escape police action, were dragged out and assaulted. 

Many women teachers were dragged by the hair. Around 500 teachers had gathered to take out a protest march in the city. The police stopped many of them at Rose Garden Chowk, while others were made to sit at the Sirhind canal bridge on the Goniana road.

“We want our salary of Rs 5,000 to be raised and our services regularised. We have made several efforts to meet Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, but to no avail,” said Ramanjeet Kaur, district in charge of teachers’ union. She alleged the government was not maintaining any record of their service to deny them regularisation.

Gurpratap Singh, a teacher, said, “We were provided jobs after the February 2014 protest when a 14-month-old child of a protesting teacher had died. Our two-year contract will end in February 2016. Around 7,000 teachers like us are deployed in government schools all over the state.”

SSP Indermohan said a recommendation would be made to bestow an award on DSP Gurmeet Kingra for saving the lives of three teachers who had jumped into the canal.