A majority of the sacked school employees shifted their protest venue from the road outside the school service commission’s office in Salt Lake to the Gandhi statue on Mayo Road on Saturday, to distance themselves from another group whose actions give the impression that they are supporters of a particular political party.
Chinmoy Mandal, spokesperson for the Deserving Teachers’ Rights Forum, said they were trying to maintain some distance from the other group lest people start calling their actions politically motivated.
Mandal, however, added there was no hostility between the two groups and both had the same goal — reinstating school employees who got their jobs on merit.
Another group, including three teachers on hunger strike, continued their protest in Salt Lake on Saturday.
On Friday, state education minister Bratya Basu said a clear division had emerged among the sacked employees.
“Those who met me today told me clearly that they were not on hunger strike. A small faction, who the group that met me feels are politically motivated, is on hunger strike,” Basu said after meeting twelve representatives of the sacked employees at Bikash Bhavan, the state education department’s headquarters.
About 150 sacked school employees assembled at Mayo Road on Saturday.
Around 50 others stayed back in Salt Lake.
“We are also supporting them (those in Salt Lake). There is only one factor that has created a distance. They are part of an organisation that people say supports a particular political party. We are trying to maintain some distance so no one can raise a finger at us that we are politically motivated,” said Mandal.
However, he said that both groups had “similar demands” and there was no hostility between them. “They, too, have lost jobs. Our demands are the same,” he added.
Pankaj Roy, who started the hunger strike outside the SSC office on Thursday, said everyone was free to protest as they deemed fit. “All of us have been deprived. There is no animosity between us. The government has been trying for a long time to create a division among us. Possibly, they have succeeded,” said Roy, who used to teach political science in Classes XI and XII at a school in Malda.
Two others — Suman Biswas and Pratap Kumar Saha — embarked on a hunger strike on Friday.
At Mayo Road, the protesting school employees said more practical considerations, like food availability or access to toilets, were some of the factors that prompted them to move to Mayo Road from Salt Lake.
“Some of us have come to Mayo Road because many teachers and non-teaching staff who have lost jobs were having problems getting food and accessing toilets in Salt Lake. A long protest programme must also consider such factors to succeed,” said Mandal.
At Esplanade, in the heart of Calcutta, it is far easier to get food or access to lavatories, even at night, he said.
Later in the evening, the protesting school staff moved from Mayo Road to Y-channel, a lane going off to the west from the Dorina crossing.
“We approached the police to ensure our safety during the night. The police advised us to relocate our protest site from the Gandhi Statue at Mayo Road to another location,” said Mandal.