GUWAHATI:
The Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad (AJYCP) had called for a massive protest across all district headquarters of the state on August 17 to stand against the decision of the state cabinet to allow all vernacular medium schools to start dual medium of instruction.
The Kamrup District Committee of AJYCP had organised a sit-in demonstration at Dighalipukhuri, however, before the arrival of other activists and the start of the protest, AJYCP central committee general secretary Palash Changmai was detained by the police.
“Changmai was detained and taken to an undisclosed location,” said a statement of the youth organisation.
The news of Changmai’s detention spread like wildfire across the state and the activists of the organisation staged a protest opposing his detention, and there was a clash between the police and the AJYCP supporters in the city following his detention.
The protest was joined by AJYCP joint secretary Mridul Talukdar, executive members Sanjiv Roychoudhury, Sukumar barman and others, and in a memorandum submitted to Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, they demanded the withdrawal of the cabinet decision on the dual medium of instruction.
In a statement, AJYCP central committee president Rana Pratap Barua and general secretary Palash Changmai said the government should also review the decision to teach Mathematics and Science in English from class III to Class XII.
“At a time when the state government is planning to open a medical college in Assamese medium, the decision to teach Science and Mathematics in English is ridiculous,” the statement read.
“It will ring the death knell for Assamese medium schools. We are not opposing teaching English in schools. But the emphasis should be on developing the infrastructure of the government schools. The government should ensure the best of facilities for the students and create an environment for the students to learn properly.
“From now, the students will have to bear the double burden of languages. Moreover, the decision will encourage the growth of CBSE and private medium English schools in the state,” the statement added.