Nityanand Dubey
Garhwa
A teacher’s transfer has triggered an unusual student protest in Kandi, with schoolchildren taking their agitation from the streets to the police station. Students had been protesting for three days against the transfer of their teacher, Malay Singh, and their anger spilled over on Thursday when they blocked the main road in Kandi.
The situation turned tense after students, who were trying to press their demand for Singh’s return, clashed with block chief Pinku Pandey, who had reached the spot to pacify them.
Students alleged that Pandey slapped one of them during the altercation. The angry protesters then allegedly vandalised his vehicle. Pandey rushed to Kandi police station for safety, but the protesters followed him there. Soon, the police station premises came under stone-pelting. A policeman was injured in the attack.
While officials were engaged in talks with the protesting students at the police station, block development officer Rakesh Sahay received an order from the education authorities staying Singh’s transfer.
To convince the students that their demand had been accepted, the station officer arranged a video call with Singh. The moment the students saw their teacher on the mobile screen, the atmosphere changed dramatically.
“Sir will return” slogans rang out in the police station premises as the students celebrated the development and announced the withdrawal of their agitation. Sahay later confirmed that the department had accepted the students’ demand and Singh had been reposted at Kandi +2 High School.
Pandey, meanwhile, denied the allegation that he had slapped a student. He alleged that supporters of the local MLA were behind the attack on his vehicle. Police have begun looking into the entire sequence of events.
The three-day protest ended with the teacher’s return, but the road blockade, vandalism and stone-pelting at the police station have left the administration grappling with a volatile situation in the area.
