Kolkata, Apr 26 (PTI) Police used water canons on BJP Yuva Morcha protestors in Salt Lake area of the city during an agitation programme by the party on Tuesday to protest against the alleged School Service Commission (SSC) scam in West Bengal.
The police used water canons to stop the BJYM activists from entering Bikash Bhavan, the headquarters of the state education department, to protest against alleged irregularities in the recruitment of teachers in government schools .
The police action prompted the protestors to stage a sit-in in the area.
BJP leaders alleged that around 25 of its activists were injured in it. The police, however, declined to comment on it. The BJP youth wing had called for the protest march to Bikash Bhawan, which was led by the national president of the saffron party’s youth front, Tejasvi Surya, state BJYM president Indranil Khan and state BJP president Sukanta Majumdar.
Carrying posters and placards against the West Bengal government, the BJYM activists shouted slogans against the state education department and demanding that the culprits behind the scam should be put behind bars.
The police had put up a three-layer barricade outside Bikash Bhawan. In the beginning the police tried to persuade the BJP activists to stop the march but when they paid no heed and broke through the first barricade, used water cannons to disperse them.
The activists led by Majumdar and Surya later sat on the road in protest against the police action.
“The state government and police are trying to snatch away our democratic right to protest. If there is injustice and corruption, it is natural that we will protest. But the way a democratic protest is being curbed is undemocratic,” Surya told reporters.
Later he told a press conference at the state BJP headquarters that education had been politicised in West Bengal and “drowned in corruption”.
“I have never in my political career seen such an undemocratic government which instead of ensuring that youths get jobs, is trying to curb democratic movement. All the appointments in school service are political,” he said.
Surya said the Yuva Morcha will fan out to various districts of the state and launch mass movements against the SSC scam.
TMC state general secretary Kunal Ghosh when asked to comment, slammed the saffron camp for trying to disturb the peaceful atmosphere of the state.
“The BJP is trying to disturb the peaceful atmosphere of the state. Instead of pointing fingers at us, it should ensure that a proper investigation is held in various other scams in BJP-ruled states,” he said. PTI PNT KK KK KK
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