Mizoram Hindi teachers begin another round of fight for their rights

By Paritosh Chakma

Hundreds of Hindi teachers recruited under the Central Sponsored Scheme (CSS) in Mizoram have once again gathered at a place in the heart of Aizawl and launched another round of indefinite hunger strike from the midnight of 22 March 2017 demanding regularization of their jobs. A total of 1305 CSS Hindi teachers have not been paid their salaries for the last 10 months i.e. upto February 2017 when their employment contracts expired.

Their organization, Mizoram CSS Hindi Teachers Association (MCHTA), has claimed that at least 17 Hindi  teachers have died in the last several months due to their inability to afford treatment due to non-payment of salaries. The MCHTA has put up a list of 15 of their deceased colleagues on the wall of the CM's Bungalow.

At the time of writing this report, a total of 107 Hindi teachers are being attended by doctors after their health deteriorated for not taking food. At least six teachers have been hospitalized and a pregnant lady has reportedly suffered miscarriage during the protest fasting.

The Hindi teachers are resolute to carry on their indefinite hunger strike. It is pity to see the visuals of their sufferings and certainly Mizoram government and Govt of India should look into their demands and fulfill them without lose of time. 

Background:

For those new to this issue, a background report is available here: http://paritosh-chakma.blogspot.in/2017/02/government-of-india-listen-to-heartbeat.html

Court of Inquiry demanded into unnatural death of Assam Rifles jawan, Kamal Mitra Chakma from Mizoram

Probe plea into death of jawan, The Telegraph, Kolkata, 19^th March 2017

https://www.telegraphindia.com/1170319/jsp/northeast/story_141420.jsp#.WM5-kTt96M8

A Staff Reporter

Guwahati, March 18: The All India Chakma Social Forum, an organisation working for rights of Chakmas, today urged the Union home ministry to conduct an impartial inquiry into the "custodial killing" of Kamal Mitra Chakma, a rifleman of 36 Assam Rifles posted at Jalaki in Nagaland.

In a statement today, Victor Talukdar, deputy secretary-general of the forum, alleged that Chakma was brutally assaulted at his battalion headquarters in Jalaki when he went to submit his leave application to go home to Mizoram on March 10. He was thrown outside the premises assuming that he was dead. Some people spotted him and handed him over to the Assam Rifles authorities who admitted him to Jorhat military hospital in Assam in a serious condition. He died today.

"Assam Rifles officials claimed that Chakma was injured after he fell from a building. But he did not have any head injuries but had broken bones in his leg, hand and thigh. He was lying unconscious outside the 36 Assam Rifles battalion headquarters which prove that his injuries were not due to a fall. His parents told us that Chakma told them that he was beaten up by his colleagues," Talukdar claimed.

Assam Rifles officials could not be contacted for comment.

The forum demanded the post-mortem be conducted at a government hospital to ensure impartiality in the investigation and a court of inquiry be instituted by officials outside the Assam Rifles battalions in Nagaland.

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Also, read in "Chakma forum seeks inquiry into AR rifleman's death", The Times of India, Guwahati Edition, 19th March 2017