Call to separate Barak Valley from Assam grows louder
The Hindu
Defacing of Assamese slogans on hoarding sparks outrage
The defacing of Assamese slogans from hoardings of Jal Jeevan Mission in the Bengali-majority Barak Valley has led to a call for the bifurcation of Assam.
Miscreants had over the past few days smeared some hoardings in black to protest the “imposition” of the Assamese language in Barak Valley where Bengali is the official language. The valley covers the southern Assam districts of Cachar, Hailakandi and Karimganj.
Several Brahmaputra Valley-based organisations, including the All Assam Students’ Union, viewed the defacing of the hoardings as an insult to the Assamese language and people. Their demand for action against the miscreants saw the police arrest two persons. Both are out on bail.
Several principals of government and private schools in Delhi on Tuesday said the Directorate of Education (DoE) circular from a day earlier, directing schools to conduct classes in ‘hybrid’ mode, had caused confusion regarding day-to-day operations as they did not know how many students would return to school from Wednesday and how would teachers instruct in two modes — online and in person — at once. The DoE circular on Monday had also stated that the option to “exercise online mode of education, wherever available, shall vest with the students and their guardians”. Several schoolteachers also expressed confusion regarding the DoE order. A government schoolteacher said he was unsure of how to cope with the resumption of physical classes, given that the order directing government offices to ensure that 50% of the employees work from home is still in place. On Monday, the Commission for Air Quality Management in the National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas (CAQM) had, on the orders of the Supreme Court, directed schools in Delhi-NCR to shift classes to the hybrid mode, following which the DoE had issued the circular. The court had urged the Centre’s pollution watchdog to consider restarting physical classes due to many students missing out on the mid-day meals and lacking the necessary means to attend classes online. The CAQM had, on November 20, asked schools in Delhi-NCR to shift to the online mode of teaching.