Ropar: Teacher Balwinder Kaur's body recovered, Akali Dal leaders stage dharna at hospital

Ropar, October 23

High drama was witnessed at the Civil Hospital here, when the body of 1158 Assistant Professors and Librarians Front member Balwinder Kaur was recovered from the Sirhind canal near Ropar and taken to the hospital today.

Senior SAD leader Bikram Majithia also reached the hospital, demanding the arrest of Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains.

483 not allowed to join duty in 2021

• October 2021: The process to recruit 1,158 professors and librarian was started.
• December: 607 of them were given appointment letters. While 124 joined their duties, the remaining 483 were not allowed despite their joining at the headquarters as a number of petitions were filed against the recruitment.
• August 2022: The High Court quashed the recruitment, following which the state government filed a Letter Patent Appeal in court against the decision of the single Bench.

Majithia, who accompanied by senior party leaders Daljit Singh Cheema, Sarabjit Singh Jhinjar and Arshdeep Singh Kler, also visited the dharna site of teachers and parental house of Balwinder Kaur at Nurpur Bedi, said he would continue dharna at the hospital until the police booked the minister responsible for the death of the assistant professor.

Soon after BJP leader and Chairman of the National Commission for Minorities Iqbal Singh Lalpura and his son and Ropar district president of the BJP Ajay Vir Singh Lalpura also reached there to express solidarity with relatives of the deceased and demanded that justice must be done with them.

Earlier, senior Congress leaders Partap Singh Bajwa, Rana KP Singh, Balbir Singh Sidhu, Pargat Singh and Brinder Singh Dhillon also visited the dharna site at Gambhirpur village.

Ropar SSP Vivek Sheel Soni held a meeting with the SAD leaders and tried to convince them that the police had booked the husband and father-in-law of the deceased on the statement of her brother and the suicide note was also being probed. The SAD leaders, however, were adamant that a criminal case must be registered against the minister on basis of the suicide note found at the house of Balwinder Kaur.

Front members, however, alleging that the state government was not serious about resolving their issue started an indefinite dharna on August 31, near residence of the minister.