30 pry teachers fall sick during hunger strike
Staff Correspondent
At least 30 teachers fell sick yesterday and three of them were taken to hospital as the 72-hour hunger strike by the non-government primary teachers ran into the final phase.About 100 non-government teachers have been taking part in the programme since Sunday at Muktangaon in the city to drum up support for their demand of nationalisation of jobs, an election pledge of the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party. Condition of several other striking teachers also deteriorated yesterday. At least 10 teachers were given intravenous fluid due to dehydration and other complications stemmed from starvation. Sadeka Begum of Brahmanbaria, Shahidul Islam of Barisal and Siddiqur Rahman of Munshiganj were admitted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) as their condition worsened. Meanwhile, Sadeka reportedly refused to accept treatment and planned to fast unto death if the primary teachers' demands were not met. Doctors at DMCH said Sadeka has been suffering from malnutrition and dehydration. Condition of Morjina, who was admitted to DMCH on Monday, remained unchanged, our DMCH correspondent said. A leader of Bangladesh Non-government Primary Teachers Association said, "We won't break the fast till our demand is met, we'll continue our programme till the end."He said a fresh agitation programme will be announced at a rally tomorrow. According to government statistics, there are about 75,500 teachers in 19,428 non-government registered primary schools. Awami League General Secretary Abdul Jalil along with other central leaders went to Muktangon yesterday to express solidarity with the striking teachers. Leaders of Sramik Karmachari Oikya Parishad (SKOP) also expressed solidarity with the teachers and urged the government to meet the demand immediately. Among others, Dr AAMS Arefin Siddique and Dr M Akhtaruzzaman, president and secretary of Dhaka University Teachers Association (DUTA), expressed solidarity with the teachers.
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