Police clash with students demanding Saraswati Puja in closed Bengal school
Students said they were lathicharged by the cops which the latter denied.
The students and their parents were demonstrating over the closure of the school and wanted to organise Saraswati Puja, local media reports said.
According to reports, Tehatta High School at Uluberia in Howrah district has been shut down since Dec 13 after a communal tension was triggered following students and locals from another community demanded hosting of Nabi Diwas in the school compound and the authority of the educational institution denied permission to organize it.
A large police force have been posted around the school since the communal tension was reported.
Demanding an immediate re-opening of the school to worship goddess Saraswati on Wednesday, a large number of students and their family members blocked National Highway-6 (Kolkata-Mumbai Road) on Tuesday morning.
A heavy police force along with Rapid Action Force (RAF) were deployed in the area and when security personnel tried to lift the road blockade, they reportedly engaged in a scuffle with the students and their guardians.
Protesters alleged that police restored to lathicharge while lifting the blockade, leaving few students injured.
Meanwhile, denying the allegation of lathicharge, a senior official of Howrah rural police told IBNS, "Protesters pelted stones and bricks aiming at policemen while they went there to lift the highway blockade. Police did not lathicharge students."
However, state president of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Dilip Ghosh, slammed the police action on agitating students.
"West Bengal government's minority appeasement policy is responsible for such situation when people of the state are having to demonstrate to worship goddess Saraswati and move to court to get permission for Durga immersion," Dilip Ghosh told IBNS.
"This incident is a part of the conspiracy to constitute 'West Bangladesh' on the land of West Bengal," Ghosh added.
(Reporting by Deepayan Sinha)
Images: TV Grab.
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