Say 56 arrested,police issue denial Over 50 members of the BEd Teachers Front were detained on Sunday after their protest rally at Chatar Singh Park raised law and order concerns. The teachers were adamant to continue the rally at Bharat Nagar Chowk,but the police advised them against it. When the agitators did not budge,they were detained by police. H S Bilga,district president of the BEd Teachers Front,said: The protestors from all across Punjab have been protesting at Chatar Singh Park under the leadership of the Fronts state chief Sukhdarshan Singh Bathinda. They wanted to take the protest rally to Bharat Nagar Chowk,but the police blocked the entry and exit points of the park. Bilga added: When the teachers started moving out of the Chatar Singh Park by jumping over the boundary walls,they were lathicharged and arrested by police. Terming the arrests of teachers as condemnable,Bilga said: Over 50 protestors were arrested along with state president Sukhdarshan Singh Bathinda. Division SHO Dharam Pal,however,denied the allegations of lathicharge. We did not lathicharge any of them. These agitators created a law and order situation for us and we rounded them up in a bid to control them. A total number of 56 teachers were brought to the division number V police station. Interestingly,the SHO also denied having made any arrests. We did not arrest them. When they realised their mistake after reaching the police station,we released them after arriving at a compromise. It must be noted that the state government had advertised for 7,654 posts of teachers in 2009. The interviews were conducted for the same,but on a writ petition from some girl candidates seeking that selection be made on the basis of a joint merit and not on a 50:50 ratio of male and female teachers,the state government cancelled the appointments. Following this,the BEd teachers Front had been protesting against the government saying the male teachers would get lesser seats compared to the fairer sex,most of whom have better academic records to show for. Govt should fulfill teachers demands: TiwariReacting to the alleged lathicharge on the member of BEd Teachers Front at Chatar Singh Park,Congress leader Manish Tiwari said: The Akali -BJP government could not initiate any developmental work in the state. The state government should fulfill the demands of these unemployed teachers. Tiwari was present at a function organised by the District Congress Sewa Dal (Urban) at Shri Ravi Dass Dharamshala on Sunday.
