The violence, caught on camera, took place when unemployed teachers started chanting anti-government slogans during the chief minister’s rally at Sangrur
A Punjab police official holds a protester in a chokehold during the rally in Sangrur. ANI
The deadlock between teachers and the Congress-ruled Punjab government, headed by Charanjit Singh Channi, came to a head on Wednesday when cops cracked down on them during a rally in Sangrur.
In visuals, cops are seen gagging, dragging and loading the protesters into vehicles after the teachers began chanting slogans against Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi.
One officer was seen dragging a woman protester by her clothes as she wriggled, all the while shouting slogans against the Congress government. Unrelenting, she continued shouting slogans even as she was gagged by the cop and pushed into a bus with other protesters.
So why exactly are teachers protesting and what happened in Sangrur.
Incident in Sangrur
Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi was in Sangrur’s Fatehgarh Sanna village to inaugurate a cement factory.
When he was about to start his speech, a group of BEd Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) qualified teachers started raising slogans against the government, demanding jobs.
Soon, the police intervened and visuals showed that the authorities tried to hold back the protesting teachers. As the protesters became even louder, denouncing the chief minister, the police began gagging the protesters — stuffing cloth in their mouths.
An officer was caught on camera dragging a woman protester by her clothes as she yelled slogans against the Congress government. The woman was then detained with other protesters in a bus. But that didn’t stop the woman from chanting slogans.
In another instance, a man was seen grabbing a protester in a chokehold and trying to cover his mouth as he chanted anti-government slogans. A third clip showed cops trying to pin a man down to the ground.
The physical violence displayed against the protesters quickly became viral and many took to social media to comment on it and denounce the Congress government, with some even tagging Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
Why are teachers angry
Teachers in Punjab have been unhappy for a long time, spelling trouble for the Congress government.
The teachers in the state have two issues. The first being the undue delay in the implementation of revised pay scales as per the recommendations of the UGC 7th pay commission. The second is the issue of regularisation of employment. The teachers said the government has still not released recruitment for 9,000 teachers’ posts.
In an attempt to voice their displeasure, they have been carrying out regular protests across the state for the past several months. The first phase of protests was in February-March last year, followed by June-July this year and the now current protests.
Contractual teachers are also an unhappy bunch in Punjab. They want their services regularised as some of them have been working on contract since 2003.
Will the protesting teachers spell doom for the Congress in Punjab as it prepares for the upcoming Assembly polls? Only time will tell.
With inputs from agencies
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