Lawlessness in Mamata Banerjee-ruled West Bengal has hit a new low with reports of teachers and school principal being assaulted by TMC members after bringing to book a student for cheating in exam made it to the headlines.
The student in question is Pamapa Pal, wife of Trinamool stronghold Gautam Pal who is also a member of the zilla parishad.
It is reported that Pampa was caught copying in sociology exam at Meghnad Saha College in West Bengal's North Dinajpur District. After the incident came to light, teachers supposedly confiscated the papers and told the student to leave.
But the incident took a nasty turn when several members of the ruling party flocked the school, ransacking its premises and thrashed two teachers and Principal, Swapna Mukherjee.
"The girl was caught cheating. So, we asked the invigilator to confiscate her papers. Subsequently, some people barged into my cabin and demanded the papers be returned. When I refused, they ransacked my cabin and assaulted me," a disheveled Mukherjee was quoted as saying by IANS.
When questioned of the incident, Gautam Pal downplayed the entire incident and called it a conspiracy of the school authorities.
Pal told Hindustan Times, "The principal, Swapna Mukherjee is the wife of former CPI minister, Srikumar Mukherjee. She is cooking up the incident and trying to malign us."
In her defence, the principal replied, "Pal is resorting to plain untruth. There cannot be any politics involved in such an incident. Students from many Trinamool-minded families come to study here. Why would any student be victimized on the basis of political beliefs."
However, the shabby incident isn't a first for a state which is marred with taint of campus politics that often leads to clashes between student unions from rival parties.
The incident comes close on the heels of the chief minister's recent speech asking fellow party members to exercise control and stay away from any maligning activities.
