Aparna Sen slams Mamata govt after police vacate TET protest site

By IBNS Oct 21, 2022

Kolkata/IBNS: Veteran actor-filmmaker Aparna Sen has lashed out at Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) government in West Bengal after police at midnight vacated the site in Kolkatas Salt Lake where Teachers Eligibility Test (TET)-qualified candidates had camped for a hunger strike demanding their appointment letters.

Sen, who had campaigned against the Left Front government during Mamatas Singur-Nandigram movement, tweeted, The Trinamool govt is flouting the basic democratic rights of the hunger-strikers! Section 144 issued against a non-violent protest! Why? I strongly condemn the undemocratic and unethical action of the West Bengal govt!

The Trinamool govt is flouting the basic democratic rights of the hunger-strikers! Section 144 issued against a non-violent protest! Why? I strongly condemn the undemocratic and unethical action of the West Bengal govt!

Aparna Sen (@senaparna) October 21, 2022

The candidates, who are demanding appointment letters, have been on hunger strike for over 80 hours camping outside West Bengal Board of Primary Education (WBBPE)s office at Karunamoyee in Salt Lake.

Police had driven away the protesters in buses after the Calcutta High Court ordered the imposition of Section 144 in the protest area.

Protesters driven away by police | Image Credit: Screenshot grab from video

The protesters have been demanding job applications from Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee as per her promise without appearing for examinations afresh.

This comes at a time the TMC government is cornered by the arrest of several party heavyweights including former education minister Partha Chatterjee over the teacher recruitment scam.