Home Minister Lakhmen Rymbui has sought for a report from the district administration into the use of tear gas on protesting teachers in the city yesterday.
Former contractual teachers marched on the Secretariat after the government had largely ignored their previous hunger strike but were stopped by riot police, who resorted to tear gas. The teachers are demanding to be reinstated; they had lost their jobs in January last year.
“The Home Department is seeking a report from the district administration so that we will know the true picture of what happened yesterday,” said Rymbui today. Senior police officials claimed that the protestors turned violent, which necessitated the use of tear gas to disperse them. However, it is not clear who ordered the use of tear gas – whether it was the police, one of the magistrates present or someone else.
It is hoped that the report will clarify this.
Rymbui also said that Section 144 of the CrPC had been imposed in the area and the teachers did not have permission to march on the Secretariat but that, nevertheless, law enforcement agencies should always use minimum intervention.
“If any person is found violating the law, due legal process will follow,” he added.
