Agartala, Nov 03, 2022, TRIPURATIMES Desk
Agartala Nov 02: Hunger Strike of a faction of 10,323 sacked teachers led by Pradip Banik demanding reinstatement in service has entered the 15th day on Thursday.
Addressing the press from the protest spot at Orient Chowmani area of the capital city, the terminated 10,323 teachers announced that General Secretary of All India College and University Teachers Association is going to join the protest from Thursday evening and will lend support to their protest till November 5 next.
Terminated 10,323 teacher Pradip Banik further said, “You all know that when the Left Front was in power, the High Court of Tripura declared our jobs to be illegal. But in the judgement, there is no mention of 10,323”.
“We lost our jobs due to the ignorant attitude of the higher officials of the Education and Law department as the jobs of as many as 38 people were challenged. Later Tripura saw a political change of guard, a new political party with a promise to resolve our problem was set at the helm of power but we did not see any change. We want our services in schools to be resumed”, added Banik.
Banik also accused a section of officials of misinterpreting the Court Judgements that allegedly ruined their lives.
“We hope the state government will hear our pleas and make efforts to reinstate us in the schools”, he said.
The 10,323 teachers who are on hunger strike for 15 consecutive days urged upon the Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha to consult the issue with his law associates adding that, “The Chief Minister is a learned person and he surely will understand the Bengali meaning of the judgment copy given by the Court in our case”.
The agitating teachers further added that they supported the Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha when he stood in the fray of by-elections with the hope that he will solve the longstanding issue of 10,323 teachers in the state.
The teachers’ expressed disappointment as the newly appointed Tripura Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha did nothing to solve their problem so far.
However, the other factions of the 10,323 sacked teachers have not extended any support to the agitation and also did not make any statement in solidarity with the Banik faction.