Nangal, November 13
As many as 14 children were injured when the police resorted to lathi charge to disperse students of Dayanand Public school, Naya Nangal, today. They were protesting against the school management’s decision to terminate the principal. Students of fifth, ninth, 10th and 12th standard were among those injured.

The incident took place at 10 am when schoolchildren and others openly came out in support of the Principal, Ms Pushpa Mittal, claiming that she was dismissed without citing any reason. They raised slogans against the management of the school and also broke the furniture and windowpanes in some places. The staff of the school also came out support of the principal.

The situation got aggravated when the schoolchildren along with staff and others forced the chairman to leave the premises. The police reached the school at about 11am and used mild lathi charge to control the situation. Those injured have been identified as Jatin, Ekta Puri, Anchal, Neha, Sushil, Shivani among others.

Later at about 1 pm parents of students also came to support the Principal and brought her to the school. Principal was told to rejoin with a letter of support from parents, students and some members of the management.

Parents said that on November 8, the principal had approached the women cell of the police and had lodged a complaint of harassment against senior functionary of the management. A compromise was reached between the principal and the management on November 11 in the presence of the police. But barely an hour later the principal was issued termination letter. Parents also lodged a complaint against the senior functionary of management for calling the police and causing injuries to the schoolchildren.

When contacted the chairman of the school management, Mr K.D Bali, said the principal was terminated because of her misconduct. She was not working as per the rules. “It’s was not schoolchildren but a large numbers of workers belonging to various political parties holding protest and I was forced to leave the school. I was admitted to the NFL, Naya Nangal hospital after the incident and will file a complaint against those responsible for the protest, he added.