Urdu Imposition? One Dead In Protests After Mamata Government Appoints Urdu Teacher Against Students’ Wishes 

One student was killed and several injured when police allegedly opened fire on students who were protesting the appointment of two Urdu teachers at a government school in Bengal's North Dinajpur district. According to a report in a Millenium Post, the students of Daribhit High School wanted posts of teachers in literature and science subjects filled up and said they had no need for Urdu teachers.

According to a report in The Indian Express, trouble was brewing ever since the appointment of the two Urdu teachers was announced, and the local Block Development Officer had brokered an agreement between the school authorities and agitating students that the newly-appointed Urdu teachers would not enter the school. However, trouble broke out on Thursday (20 September) when a posse of policemen escorted the two teachers into the school.

Agitated students started assaulting the policemen, injuring three of them. The besieged cops then allegedly opened fire on students assembled in a field outside the school, killing Rajesh Sarkar, an alumnus of the school. Sarkar, according to locals, was studying in a polytechnic institute and had gone to his former school on hearing about the ruckus there.

Police denied firing on the students, but this claim is being contested by the students and their parents. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has called for a 12-hour shutdown in North Dinajpur on Friday (21 August).