Kolkata: Christian schools across West Bengal will observe a shutdown on Thursday in protest against “police inaction” and vandalism at a school following a minor girl student’s death allegedly due to bullying while the institution’s principal was yesterday granted bail.
Helen Sarkar, the principal of the Christ Church School in Dum Dum of North 24-Parganas district, was granted bail on a personal bond of Rs5,000, her
counsel said.
The Calcutta Diocese of the Church of North India, which runs the school, announced at a media meet that over 1,000 Christian-run schools will observe Thursday as a “black day” and remain shut, decrying the police “inaction” during the vandalism perpetrated by guardians and locals on September 12.
“Schools will remain shut to protest total police inaction to control the mob, to condemn the rampant vandalism and hooliganism in a girls’ school for hours on end causing trauma to the head mistress and so many lady teachers,” said Archbishop of Calcutta Thomas D’Souza.
The schools observing the shutdown would include around 700 institutions under the West Bengal Association of Christian Schools (WBACS) and the Association of Anglo-Indian schools and about 300 affiliated to the Indian Council for Secondary Education (ICSE).
D’Souza, also WBACS president, would submit a memorandum to Governor M K Narayanan and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee seeking protection of minority educational institutions. IANS
