Bengal Witnessed Police Raids On Job Seekers At Midnight, Opposing The Call Of The Movement: Calcutta became riotous at midnight. The 2014 and 2017 TET candidates were agitated for 84 hours in Salt Lake Karunamayi (Salt Lake TET Agitation). They demand that they will go on hunger strike until they get a job. However, the movement was dispersed by the police within twenty minutes. The job seekers were forcibly removed. The entire state witnessed police ‘action’ in Kolkata at midnight.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s government is reeling from allegations of various unethical practices, including teacher recruitment corruption. On top of that, the continuous movement demanding jobs has put the Trinamool Congress on the back foot. On the one hand, SSC job seekers are protesting for more than 500 days in Mayo Road. Already for the past 84 hours, the 2014 and 2017 TATE exam candidates were protesting at Karunamayi in Salt Lake.
In this situation, the Calcutta High Court ordered to comply with Section 144 in front of the Salt Lake Education Board office. According to the request of the board, the High Court said on Thursday that section 144 should be followed. The Bidhannagar Police Commissioner was directed to arrange the entry and exit of the staff to the council office with the necessary police. On this day, Salt Lake Square became hot with agitation.
The protest of the 2014 TET candidates was announced by the police. If they do not leave the place, legal action will be taken, police said. After this announcement, the intensity of the movement increased. The job seekers made it clear that they will not get out of there for their lives. Meanwhile, many agitators fell ill due to continuous hunger strikes. CPIM leader Meenakshi Mukhopadhyay wants to meet the protesters at the spot. BJP leader Sajal Ghosh also went to meet them.
Then the police started ‘action’ at 12 o’clock at night. They clashed with the agitators. The protestors were waved away from the hunger stage to clear the area. Many job seekers were detained. The area was evacuated in just twenty minutes. Due to this action of the police, the situation immediately became heated. The political circles of the state have already become heated due to this midnight incident.
Opposition leader Shuvendu Adhikari compared the current situation of Bengal with Hitler’s Germany. BJP state president Sukant Majumdar also attacked the government by tweeting. He also mocked Trinamool’s ‘Khela Hobe’ slogan. On the other hand, the left student organization SFI has called for a protest program in Salt Lake at 12 noon on Friday. A rally has been called at the Karunamayi bus stand to protest police brutality against job seekers.
Didi’s Khela Hobe had new meaning today when Police started applying brute force & detaining TET 2014 qualified students who were protesting against the state govt for their legitimate demands.
Youths have no future in this TMC govt. This govt must go.
pic.twitter.com/pIjODU5Gkd—Dr. Sukanta Majumdar (@DrSukantaBJP) October 20, 2022
Meanwhile, the protesters were arrested and taken to Newtown police station. Then they were released to Howrah, Sealdah, and Dharmatala. After removing the job seekers of 2014, the police immediately cleared the entire area. Posters flexes of the agitators were removed. 2014 Tet passers were released, but the 2017 candidates remained steadfast in their position. Finally, around 3 am, the police removed the 2017 protesters from Karunamayi. A group of protesters was released at Sealdah station in the early hours of the morning.
On the other hand, three protestors have disappeared from Karunamayi’s protest site due to police action. This is what the agitating job seekers are complaining about. As a result, they are worried. The rest claimed that the three agitating job seekers named Achintya Dhara, Achintya Samant, and Arnav Ghosh could not be found. Several job seekers have vowed to intensify their agitation if anything happens to them.