Our Correspondent
Kohima | October 3
Four members of the All Nagaland Adhoc Teachers Group (ANATG) 2015 batch were detained by the Police today at 10 am and later released at 4pm.
The group was supposed to hold a general meeting today at Capital Convention Centre when the security personnel stopped them from entering the Center on the pretext that the location was a government property and they were not allowed to assemble there.
The group then sought help from the Naga Students' Federation which allowed them to hold their meeting at the Naga Solidarity Park where they were blocked by the Police personnel and paramilitary (IRB).
"We even took permission from the in-charge of the Center to hold our meeting but the Police stopped us from entering. When we proceeded towards the Solidarity Park, the Police rushed towards the gate and blocked us demanding a written permission," said an official. While the group was proceeding towards the Naga Solidarity Park, four of the ANADG officials were detained.
"The idea was to have a general meeting but we were told to leave from the Center," said Bendang Ozukum, one of the detained members. Although detained, Ozukum maintained, "Nothing was forced upon us."
The four detained were also told to sign a bond but refused on the grounds that they were not provided with any explanations. However, the four wrote an undertaking mentioning that they will maintain peace without compromising their sole demand that is regularization of their jobs.
Meanwhile, a Police source stated that they were detained on grounds of unlawful assembly. "Their assembly has become unlawful. They are not permitted to assemble within the vicinity of the Secretariat. The Government of Nagaland has not provided any permission for them to gather there," stated the source.
WSH, ENCSU express solidarity
The Western Sumi Hoho (WSH) and the Eastern Nagaland College Students Union (ENCSU) have expressed solidarity with the demand of the ANATG-2015 batch for regularization of their services.
In a press statement, WSH also raised concern on the arrest of some of the ANATG members while carrying out agitation in a democratic manner and termed it as ”quite unbecoming of a democratic government to resort to such iron hand policies in a democratic state.”
The WSH further expressed its resentment on the several lapses and loopholes on the appointment of those teachers’ under the RMSA flagship programme of 2013 and 2016.
While teachers under same RMSA flagship programme of 2013 were given scale pay right from the time of appointment, the 2016 batch of teachers under the same RMSA scheme are being put under extreme duress and harassment from the government to accept deduction of their salaries or face termination from their services,” it maintained.
The ENCSU in a separate press statement while extending support to the demand of ANATG 2015 batch for regularization of their service appealed to the state government to consider their demand at the earliest.
