30 Rehbar-e-Taleem teachers detained in Srinagar on Teachers’ Day

Hundreds of Rehbar-e-Taleem (ReT) teachers protested Wednesday to press for various demands, including implementation of the Seventh Pay Commission, inviting water canon and baton charge by police, who also took 30 of them into preventive custody.

The teachers had assembled at the Sher-e-Kashmir park in Srinagar to observe "black day" on the occasion of Teachers' Day.

As soon as the teachers stepped out of the park and started marching towards the SKICC, where a function marking Teachers' Day was in progress, police stopped the protestors and asked them to disperse, an official said.

As the teachers refused, police used water canons and batons to break the march, he said.

The official said at least 30 protestors were taken into preventive custody to restore order in the area as the protest had led to a massive traffic jam.

"We are observing this day as black day due to the non-implementation of the Seventh Pay Commission in our favour," JKReT Forum chairman Farooq Ahmed Tantary said.

He said the ReT teachers are regularised by the state government and extended all the benefits of state government employees, including the Sixth Pay Commission.

"However, the Seventh Pay Commission has not been extended to us for reasons best known to the government," he added.