Despite being asked to show cause by the West Bengal government for organising a student rally to protest the rape and murder of a 20-year-old college girl at Kamduni earlier this month, Pradip Mukherjee, headmaster of Kamduni Primary School, on Sunday said he would continue to hold such protests.
“If, as teachers, we cannot stand for the interest and security of our students then who will?” Mr. Mukherjee told The Hindu , stating that the victim was a former student of his school.
“She was one of the very few from the village who could continue with higher education,” he said.
Mr. Mukherjee said he allowed the students to participate in the June 13 rally because many of them were still angry over the incident. “After the incident, parents have stopped sending their children to the school.”
The victim, a second-year student of a nearby college, was abducted by a group of locals when she was returning home from the college on June 7.
“I felt hurt after receiving the show-cause letter as none of the authorities commended our efforts to bring the students … back to the school after the incident. Instead, on June 19, I was asked to explain why I had allowed the students to attend the rally,” Mr. Mukherjee said.
“The authorities did not bother to come to the school even once and inquire about the students. They are not aware that the rally was held on June 13 not June 12 [as mentioned by the authorities],” he said.
