Bengaluru: Kids take battle to army officers

Bengaluru: High drama prevailed on Tuesday at a school campus in JC Nagar where a Government Junior College, Government Urdu School and Government Primary and Secondary School are run, when army officials arrived at the spot with an Army court to vacate the land.

But by evening, the issue was sorted out with the state government appealing to the Army not to claim the school campus plot, which spreads over three acres and houses nearly 1,700 students.

The army officers arrived at the campus around 3 pm with the army court order, which has given the rights of the plot to the army. The visit triggered a panic and the teachers asked the students not to leave the campus and allow an easy access to the plot of land to the Army. Though on a normal day, the school closes at 3 pm, on Tuesday the students stayed on.

There were also murmurs that the teachers locked the students inside classrooms, angering the parents, who rushed to the spot. When the crowd grew, the police arrived with additional forces. The army court passed the order on June 14. Though the authorities from the government junior college appealed against the order in a civil court, no stay was granted.

When senior officials of the Department of Public Instruction were alerted, they rushed to the school along with Primary and Secondary Education Minister Tanveer Sait, who negotiated with the army to maintain the status quo. Interestingly, till Mr Sait arrived, DPI officials had not been able to make any breakthrough.

As a large number of students were fasting, army officials offered them tea and biscuits and asked them to vacate the land , but none moved. Local corporator Ganesh Rao, DPI Commissioner Soujanya and others took part in the negotiations. When the government assured the parents and students that the state government would make efforts to save the schools, they dispersed.