Shillong: While the government is yet to receive the report from the administration concerning the tear gas firing at teachers earlier this month, chief minister Conrad K Sangma on Thursday said that he is not a person in favour of violence in any situation.
Sangma was speaking on the sidelines of a programme at the College of Teacher Education (PGT) in Shillong.
On October 6, Meghalaya Police had resorted to firing tear gas at protesting teachers as they marched towards the Secretariat in Shillong, seeking reinstatement. These were teachers who lost their jobs in 2019 after failing to clear the eligibility test.
“I believe that dialogue is the best way to move forward. That’s the reason I always meet everybody,” said the chief minister adding that in the last four-and-a-half years his government has steered clear of violence.
Speaking on the tear gas incident, Sangma said that there were a lot of conflicting incidents that have been reported. One was that permission for the teachers enter the Secretariat was not given and the other was that Section 144 CrPC had been imposed.
He said there were women teachers in the protest and there were not enough women police personnel to guard them.
“These complications came up. If proper communication in terms of permissions were shared, I think the protest would have been much more smoother,” said Sangma.
The chief minister added that maybe the police saw the teachers and were concerned something could happen and so tear gas seemed be the simplest way to disperse the crowd without resorting to violence.
He added that it was difficult to comment on the incident without understanding what the police officials went through at that time, leading to the decision.
Sangma said what is important is that nobody was seriously hurt and and that the government will be gathering a report from everybody.
We have tried to address the issue (of reinstatement). We tried to find out ways in which we may be able to give some relief in terms of the age condonation, he said.
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