On December 14, the unemployed B.Ed TET qualified teachers faced police atrocities at the Sangrur rally of Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi. Notably, CM Channi has been facing strong opposition from the unemployed teachers everywhere he goes. Reportedly, in the Sangrur rally, when Police and Teachers came face-to-face, the Police dragged them out of the pandal.
During the scuffle, a teacher identified as Gurjant Singh got injured. The turban of a few unemployed teachers came off during the scuffle. To suppress the voice of the protestors, CM Channi supporters started raising slogans of “Congress Zindabad”.
#WATCH | Punjab Police detained unemployed BEd TET (teacher eligibility test) qualified teachers who protested in CM Charanjit Singh Channi’s rally in Sangrur earlier today pic.twitter.com/vFc0g59iGl
— ANI (@ANI) December 14, 2021
‘2-4 people come to disturb the program’
When CM Channi started his address at the program, the unemployed B.Ed ETT teachers started raising slogans against him. On hearing the slogans, CM said he knew some people would come to disturb the program. “It does not matter,” he added. Protesters Gurpreet Singh Khedi and Sukhdev Singh, along with others, were detained by the Police. When CM’s convoy reached village Ghabdan, he faced opposition from the unemployed teachers again. They were sitting in protest on the side of the main road and were raising slogans against the CM. The Police also stopped those protesting teachers from getting close to the convoy.
पंजाब में कांग्रेस का लोकतंत्र।CM के सामने बेरोज़गारों ने आवाज़ उठानी चाही तो तस्वीर में देख लीजिए पुलिस ने कैसे ख़ामोश किया।खींचकर आयोजन स्थल से हटा दिया गया। “बोल की लब आज़ाद हैं तेरे” गैंग को इसपर वैसे ही साँप सूँघ जाएगा जैसे राजस्थान के बेरोज़गारों के प्रदर्शन पर सूंघ गया था। pic.twitter.com/Imitl3F2hl
— Sushant Sinha (@SushantBSinha) December 15, 2021
Before the convoy of CM Channi could reach village Fatehgarh Channa, some teachers went and sat inside the pandal. When CM reached to address the crowd from the stage, the protesting teachers led by Kulwant Longowal, district head of the unemployed teachers’ union, started raising slogans against the Punjab government. The Police personal present on the spot dragged the protestors out of the pandal and took them to the nearest station. Several teachers were also detained at Village Fatehgarh Channa.
The protesting teachers also raised slogans against the CM in village Ghabdan. They said that they have been sitting at Kharar tank for the last two months, but the government is not paying any attention to their demands. The administration promised to arrange a meeting between the teachers and the CM by evening. The meeting did take place, and CM assured them of finding a solution at the earliest, but the protesting teachers were not convinced.
There were reports of scuffles between the Police and teachers. Somehow, a few teachers managed to reach the pandal where CM was addressing the crowd and raised slogans. The Police dragged the protestors out of the pandal. In retaliation, the Police detained Sukhchain Patiala. The teachers present there blamed the government for not listening to their demands. They said, “Instead of a concrete solution, whenever we raise our voices, we get batons, false promises and pamphlets.” It is noteworthy that several teachers who have been waiting for the recruitment have crossed the eligible age limit. The government does not give any relaxation in the age limit, and these unemployed teachers are demanding some relaxation as well.
Years of a wait without any concrete solution
The B.Ed. TET qualified unemployed teachers have been seeking jobs from the Punjab government for years, but they failed to get any concrete solution. Be it former CM Amarinder Singh or CM Channi, no one could provide relief to them. OpIndia has tried to reach out to some of the teachers and would update with more details on the issue.
