School students for Singur

Singur’s school students have been fighting against forcible acquisition of land since July.

The numerical strength of the Singur Krishi Jomi Raksha Sahayak Chhatra Committee (Farmland Protection Assisting Students’ Committee), affiliated to the Singur Krishi Jomi Raksha Committee (Farmland Protection Committee), has gone up from 35 in July to 600 this month. About 400 girls and 200 boys from schools in the affected villages have joined the Committee, said Prakash Hambir, a Class VI student of Beraberi Suryanarayan Memorial School.

The SKJSCC’s chief advisor, Mr Dipak Singha, said girls from Beraberi Suryanarayan Memorial High School, Daulatpur-Doluigacha School, Gopalnagar Harharia High School and Gopalnagar Kumud Ranjan High School, were all separately organising rallies. Students of the primary schools in the villages too are active, he said.

Bajemelia Dakshinpara’s Tushar Ghosh, a Class VIII student of Beraberi Suryanarayan Memorial High School, said: “We are fighting as our parents’ livelihood is in danger and in spite of our teachers’ stiff resistance.

A Class VIII student of the same school, Mintu Bag, said: “Leaders of the agitation supply us with information about land in the affected villages. We pass it on to those hesitant about joining us.”

Prakash Hambir said: “Some of our teachers told us not to attend rallies as doing so would affect our studies. But how shall we study if we are driven out of our own land?” He added that some teachers went to the extent of saying they wouldn’t be promoted to the next class if they didn’t quit the movement.

Mr Dudhkumar Dhara, a private tutor in Bajemelia Dakshinpara, said: “I teach 53 students belonging to five schools. Some of them say they have been queried by their school teachers about their involvement in the agitation.”