Mangaluru: Former DU Prof. Dr. Shamsul Islam unveils posters on 1857 War martyrs from Karnataka
The event was organized as part of the 'BV Kakkilaya Inspired Oration for 2023'
Mangaluru: On Saturday, at the University College campus in Mangaluru, Dr. Shamsul Islam, a retired Associate Professor of Political Science from the University of Delhi, unveiled posters containing the names of four significant incidents in the state and the names of 132 martyrs from Karnataka who participated in the First War of Indian Independence in 1857. This event was organized as part of the 'BV Kakkilaya Inspired Oration for 2023' on the topic of "Joint Martyrdoms, Joint Heritage of 1857 War of Independence" by the BV Kakkilaya Foundation.
The names of these martyrs were compiled by Dr. Islam from the 'Dictionary of Martyrs: India's Freedom Struggle 1857-1947' and included those who participated in battles at Nargund, Koppal Fort, Halagali, and Surapur in Karnataka.
During his oration, Dr. Islam emphasized that paying tribute to martyrs is a way of showing respect to Mother India. He stressed the importance of acknowledging and discussing the contributions of these martyrs, stating that failing to do so sends a negative message. Dr. Islam also touched upon the principles of the Rashtriya Swayamseva Sangh (RSS), asserting that they were against both the nation and humanity.
"The person who assassinated the Father of the Nation was neither a Pakistani nor an agent of the IS. Gandhiji was assassinated by a person who impersonated a fake sense of nationalism," he asserted.
Prior to Dr. Islam's lecture, members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), who are students of the University College, staged a protest against the lecture alleging the lecture aimed to propagate leftist philosophy among college students. The protesters carried placards with messages like "Go Back Shamsul" and "Save UCM." There were attempts by the ABVP members to confront Dr. Shamsul Islam and Prof. Keshavan Veluthat, a retired Professor of Mangalore University and historian, as they arrived at the venue. Tight police security was provided on the University College campus, and Prof. Veluthat was escorted to the stage by law enforcement officers.
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Teachers start relay hunger strike to protest job loss, police action
Kolkata (PTI): A section of teachers who lost their jobs following a Supreme Court judgment which held that the whole appointment process was tainted, on Thursday began a relay hunger strike outside the West Bengal School Service Commission (SSC) office in protest over the issue.
Joining the protesters, BJP MP Abhijit Gangopadhyay who is a former judge of the Calcutta High Court, blamed the state administration and its wings for their plight.
The teachers and other staff who lost their jobs said that they were also protesting police action against their compatriots at the district inspector (DI) of schools' office at Kasba in south Kolkata on Wednesday.
"We started a relay hunger strike agitation with one teacher at the beginning and will soon chalk out further programme to protest the issue," one of the protesters told reporters outside the SSC office at Salt Lake here.
The agitating teachers have been holding a sit-in outside the SSC office building 'Acharya Sadan' since Wednesday night to protest the loss of jobs and police action against their compatriots.
The protesters alleged they were subjected to baton-charge and were even kicked and shoved around by law enforcement personnel during their agitation outside the DI office, situated beside Kasba police station of the Kolkata Police.
Noting that the police have lodged cases against the protesting teachers over Wednesday's protest at Kasba, Gangopadhyay said that this should not have been done.
"Cases have been lodged against innocent teachers who lost their jobs for the illegal acts of others," the BJP MP told reporters.
Maintaining that he had not gone to meet Education Minister Bratya Basu on Wednesday in protest against the police action, he said that the BJP leadership was with him in his decision.
Gangopadhyay said that he, along with former Rajya Sabha MP Rupa Ganguly, came to the protest site at Acharya Sadan to express solidarity with the teachers and other staff who lost their jobs.
Gangopadhyay, as a judge of the Calcutta High Court, had ordered a CBI investigation in November 2021 into alleged irregularities in the recruitment process.
He had also ordered the termination of more than 25,000 jobs of teaching and non-teaching staff in West Bengal government-run and -aided schools after finding irregularities in the process.
This order was upheld by a division bench of the high court and thereafter by the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court on April 3 upheld a 2024 Calcutta High Court judgment annulling the recruitment of 25,753 teaching and non-teaching staff appointed through a recruitment drive by SSC in 2016, terming the entire selection process "vitiated and tainted".
Those who were rendered jobless claimed that the reason behind their plight was the inability of the SSC to differentiate between the candidates who secured employment through fraudulent means and those who did not.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested former West Bengal education minister Partha Chatterjee and some others, who held positions in the state's SSC when the irregularities in the recruitment process took place.
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