Meghalaya teachers protest leads to political blame game

Targeting the ruling MDA, Pyngrope said that the government should have acted in a more humane manner in dealing with teachers and their families.

Opposition chief whip George B Lyngdoh on Friday met the protesting contractual teachers who were tear-gassed by police yesterday and are now camping outside the Secretariat.

Speaking to reporters, Lyngdoh said that CM Conrad Sangma as well as Home and Education minister Lahkmen Rymbui should come out and make the government’s stand clear on the incident which occurred on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Meghalaya TMC President Charles Pyngrope has condemned the police action during a protest by members of the lower primary school contractual teachers’ association in Shillong yesterday wherein police personnel resorted to lathi charges and tear gas shelling on the protestors.

Targeting the ruling MDA, Pyngrope said that the government should have acted in a more humane manner in dealing with teachers and their families.

Terming the police action ‘deplorable’, the Meghalaya TMC President expressed solidarity with the protesting contractual teachers and their families.

It may be mentioned here that a protest by the lower primary school contractual teachers’ association turned violent yesterday after the police resorted to lathi charges and fired tear gas shells to prevent the protesters from marching toward the secretariat.

President of the Meghalaya Government Lower Primary School Contractual Teachers’ Association Birbor Riangtem sustained injuries in the incident.

The teachers who had been protesting near the civil hospital junction in Shillong for close to a month now decided to shift the venue of the protest to the main secretariat area.

As the teachers marched towards the secretariat, police had to resort to tear gas shelling and even lathi charges to prevent them from proceeding.

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