Hindustan Times (Patiala)

Distancing norms go for a toss at sacked physical training instructor­s’ Jind rally

- Sunil Rahar sunil.kumar3@htlive.com

› I urge you all to defeat the BJP-JJP candidate in the Baroda byelection, the chief minister will come to you and ask you to rejoin services.

ROHTAK: Social distancing guidelines were thrown to the wind in Jind as thousands of people, including two independen­t legislator­s - Mehram’s Balraj Kundu and Dadri’s Sombir Sangwan, protested against the sacking of 1,983 physical training instructor­s after a Supreme Court order on June 1.

The trainers organised a statewide rally and got support from around three dozen khaps. Not only did people not mainatain social distancing, they also did not wear face masks. Independen­t MLA from Dadri, Sombir Sangwan, who is also head of Sangwan Khap said chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar should use his legislativ­e powers and reinstate the services of the

BALRAJ KUNDU, Meham MLA , to protesters

sacked PTIs.

“If our demands are not met. I will not hesitate to protest against the chief minister and his government for the sake of our brotherhoo­d and society”, he said.

Sarv khap national president Nafe Singh Nain said the Khap bodies had extended their support to the protesting instructor­s and the government cannot ignore the voice of the teachers. “If the government does not reinstate the services of PTIs , the khap bodies will launch a stir against the BJP- JJP government across the state from July 25”, he

added.

Meham MLA Balraj Kundu urged the protesting teachers not to demand their rights, he asked them to snatch their rights by defeating BJP-JJP candidate in the upcoming Baroda byelection.

“I urge you all to defeat the BJP-JJP candidate in the Baroda byelection, the chief minister himself will come to you and ask you to rejoin services,” Kundu added. PTI union vice-president Vazir Gangoli said they had violated the social distancing protocol by organising the rally as the government had snatched their job.“If we will not protest, we will die of hunger rather than the virus. The khaps have extended support to us and they will launch a stir in our favour. The government betrayed us by taking our jobs after ten years and stopped the pension of widows,” he said.

POLICE, ADMN MUTE SPECTATORS

As per informatio­n, the police and Jind district administra­tion tried to convince teachers to not hold the rally but their appeal was ignored. The police and administra­tion remained mute spectators as thousands of people took part in the packed rally.

Jind tehsildar Manoj Ahlawat said the protesting teachers had violated social distancing norms and strict action will be taken against those who had taken part in the rally.

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