A child goes to school with his father in Kalimpong on Tuesday. Picture by Chinlop Fudong Lepcha

Kurseong, July 1: A Kurseong school has resolved to expel a teacher for delivering a lec- ture that was allegedly “against Gorkhaland” and the man spearheading the campaign for a new state, Bimal Gurung.

The authorities of Panchawati High School at Selphu, 35km from Kurseong town, have passed a resolution to expel geography teacher Rabin Tamang.

He is an employee of the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council and it has to take a final decision on the expulsion.

“The teacher took one whole period to speak against Gorkhaland and our president Bimal Gurung. The matter came to light after the students told their parents about it. We surrounded the school yesterday and demanded his expulsion,” said Ratan Thapa, the local convener of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha.

The school’s managing committee sat for a meeting later in the day. “Before taking the decision, we asked the students about the teacher’s speech. They told us that he spoke against Gorkhaland and Gurung. The resolution to expel the teacher has been sent to the authorities concerned,” said Ambar Chettri, the president of the managing committee.

However, the principal secretary of the hill council, Rajesh Pandey, said he was not aware of the row.

Tamang has been working in the school since 2000 and gets Rs 5,000 a month. In the hills, contracts of teachers like him are renewed every six months.

Contacted over the phone, Tamang, the only earning member in a family of eight, said he was innocent.

“I definitely delivered a lecture to the Class VI students on Gorkhaland, but not against it. I told them about the demand for Gorkhaland, the ongoing movement and the Gorkhaland map among other things. The students may not have understood me and misinterpreted the whole lecture,” he said.

He accused the Morcha of not giving him “a chance to defend myself”.