Red zone claims 23 teachers

GOPIBALLABHPUR: The laterite road is almost as red as blood. On its left stands a black mud hut, sporting a two-year-old poll graffiti. On the right is septuagenarian Shashanka Giri`s house. Shashanka sits on the verandah — waiting. He has been waiting for the past eight months for his son, Ajit, to return home. It was on July 2, 2010, that Ajit had left home for his school.On his way back he was kidnapped.
It`s not clear who had kidnapped the para teacher. But Shashanka is not bothered about the identity of the kidnappers. He just wants to get his son back. And for that the family has been running for pillar to post for all these months. They have filed a complaint with local police, written to DM, SP, DGP and human rights commission. None replied.
A day after the complaint was lodged, a couple of district CID officers visited the Giris` home in Aguiboni — a village 55 km from Midnapore and 55 yards from National Highway-6. After that nobody came. The district CID wanted a few documents — papers for the motorcycle and the mobile phone used by Ajit. The family submitted a few papers. And the rest is silence. According to Shashanka, after a police officer had asked him to file a fresh case — naming some people — he had told the officer, "I will do that only if you guarantee that I will be alive to see the next sunrise." The officer, Shashanka said, had no answer.
The Giris have lost faith in all political parties. "Whom should I vote for? If I could I would have stayed away from the polling booth. But that is not to be. Because if I don`t go and cast my vote, some party or other will charge me with going against them. I don`t have the courage to face them. Some party or other will come to power tomorrow. But will they get me back my son?" says Shashanka, a retired government teacher himself, tears rolling down his wrinkled cheeks.
It isn`t about Ajit`s plight alone. A gory tale started with the brutal murder of Karamchand Singh, a primary teacher in Marchkata primary school in West Midnapore`s Jangalmahal right before the children he taught for years. This was on February 22, 2008. Till April 2, when para teacher Prabodh Mahato was gunned down in Garulia, the death toll had touched 13 in West Midnapore alone. Ten more teachers are suspected to have been killed in other districts, CPM claims. Two others — including Giri — are suspected missing. If this isn`t all, nearly 250 teachers are refusing to go to their school. Some of them even chose to be on leave-without-pay rather than go to school.
For many the reason is that CPM and its affiliated bodies virtually rules the teachers` associations. In particular, the head masters` association and the School Management Committees. Trinamool Congress claims in its manifesto that "Today appointment of teachers is on the basis of party affiliation — `cadre raj` — with no regard for merit," which it wants to undo once in power. In this mostly tribal belt, teachers still command a respect. It isn`t without reason, therefore, that most teachers are ardent CPM leaders. Congress, the Trinamool, Jharkhandis and even the Maoists — and PCPA — have been unable to permeate this red citadel. The killings — which some attribute to these teachers defying the PCPA diktat to pay 25% levy on the salaries they earn every month — were aimed to install a sense of fear. It has achieved that and even more. For many, it appears to be re-run of the dark days five years prior to 1977. The state had then witnessed mayhem in educational institutions with 40 school teachers and lecturers murdered. The victim included Gopal Sen, the then Vice Chancellor of Jadavpur University, who was killed in the university premises itself.
Now, only in Jhargram sub-division — which has been the hotbed of these murders — has 1,148 schools, mostly primary. According to the West Midnapore`s Primary School Education board chairman Brojogopal Paria, most of these schools have been affected. "We are trying our best to run these schools — at least depute one person to reach these schools and keep them open. Most of these reluctant teachers are being transferred (within the district) to schools closer home. But this can be done to some extent. The problem here is that most of these primary schools are remote. One has to cross one jungle or the other to reach them. So, finding replacements is tough. We are trying our best to address the issue, to the best of our ability," Paria said.