Chaos outside stadium over CM meet passes

Chaos broke out outside the Netaji Indoor Stadium on Monday morning, just ahead of West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee's scheduled meeting with sacked government teachers and non-teaching staff.

- STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE

A controversy erupted over the distribution of 'passes', which divided the protestors into two clear factions—those with the passes and those without. Those in possession of the passes insisted that only they should be allowed inside the stadium, barring the rest. The legitimacy of these passes, however, has now come under scrutiny.

Questions are being raised about who authorised the distribution and what criteria were used to determine eligibility. The passes, featuring a blue background with bold text read "Amra Joggo" (we are eligible), reportedly included details such as "floor" or "gallery," indicating seating arrangements.

Allegations surfaced that members of an organisation named Joggo Shikshak-Shikshika Adhikar Mancha (Platform for the Rights of Eligible Teachers) played a key role in distributing the passes. The group claims the state government handed over 7,500 passes to them, based on a list of names who had earlier filed legal petitions. Opposition leaders, including BJP's Suvendu Adhikari and CPI-M's Satarup Ghosh, raised strong objections over the distribution process. "The CM has politicised the Netaji Indoor Stadium," Adhikari said. "The autonomy of the SSC has been destroyed under her leadership. The state government must immediately submit the full list of affected teachers."