The Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Monday announced that it would lead a protest march in Kolkata against the termination of 25,000 teachers on April 9. The development came days after the Supreme Court upheld the Calcutta High Court’s decision to terminate the appointments of the teachers.
The march, according to party officials, will begin at College Square and conclude at Dharamtala at 3 pm, and will include participation from the party’s youth and student wings. In addition to the Kolkata rally, the TMC has announced plans for similar rallies across districts, blocks, wards, and towns on April 11.
The TMC has attributed the termination of the teachers to what it describes as a “conspiracy” by the BJP and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)).
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who earlier said she “cannot support” the Supreme Court order, met with several affected teachers in Kolkata. During the event, she criticised the BJP and CPI(M), alleging they played a role in the job losses. She referenced a prior incident in Tripura, where a court struck down 10,000 teaching positions, and claimed the BJP did not take action to address the issue after coming to power.
Subrata Bakshi, President of the West Bengal Trinamool Congress, stated, “Due to a deep conspiracy by the BJP and CPI(M), over 20,000 teachers, teaching staff, and education workers in Bengal lost their jobs. In protest against this conspiracy, the youth and student wing of Trinamool Congress will participate in a massive rally on Wednesday, April 9.”
Upholding the High Court order on April 9, a bench of Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and Justice PV Sanjay Kumar made strong observations regarding the selection process and said that since the appointments resulted from fraudulent practices, they amounted to cheating.
“We find no reason to interfere with the decision of the High Court that the services of tainted candidates and their appointment be terminated. Since their appointment was by fraud, this amounts to cheating,” the bench had noted.
Reacting to the move, Banerjee had questioned the blanket dismissal of all candidates, asserting that not all appointees were guilty of wrongdoing. “The ones whom you call tainted, we don’t have proof regarding them. Does the BJP government want to collapse the education system of Bengal? What happened in Vyapam? Fifty plus people were killed,” she had said, extending her support to the dismissed teachers.
