On their day, teachers brave lathis in Lucknow

LUCKNOW: About 4,000 teachers who had gathered in the city to protest outside Vidhan Bhawan were lathicharged on Tuesday . Associated with the centrally-run scheme of Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan, `preraks' (motivators)had given a call in advance to gather at Charbagh on Tuesday morning in order to mount pressure on the government for their pending demands.
On Teachers' Day , over 800 policemen stopped the motivators at Burlington crossing from marching further.The group blocked the GPO-Charbagh route. The stretch between Burlington Crossing and Rana Pratap crossing was crowded. By 11.15am, protesters started pelting stones at police. A PAC personnel, identified as Chandrahas, suffered head injuries. Police resorted to force thereafter. A woman protester Leela Bharti, who was holding her two-year-old daughter collapsed on the ground. Similarly , Geetam Singh from Aligarh, who could not walk without support, was al so beaten up.
The ruckus saw shopkeepers and roadside vendors shutting shops and running for cover. Ashish Verma, an attendant at a fuel station near Burlington crossing, said, “It looked like the mob would target vehicles and shops.Apprehending trouble, people had to close shops and run for over. Also, the protesters did not get time to vandalise pro perty because police kept chasing them away .“
Water cannons were used to disperse the crowd. The stretch remained covered with footwear and broken spectacles. However, the situation was under control by 1pm and traffic movement resumed on the stretch. The protesters did not re-group after that.
Prem Chandra, a prerak from Lodha block in Aligarh, said, “We have not been paid for the past three years. Our monthly payment also needs to be revised as we are summoned for other duties too.“
The protest was planned on a day when a lot of VIPs had gathered for Metro launch in the city and a significant number of policemen had to be deployed for the same. Meanwhile, additional SP of Lucknow (east) Sarvesh Mishra said a case would be registered against the protesters.