Overview

• Hundreds of jobless teachers and state employees under Sangrami Joutho Manch attempted the ‘Nabanna Abhijan’ march in Howrah to press for reinstatement of 26,000 positions and payment of 25% dearness allowance arrears.
• The Calcutta High Court banned the protest and Howrah police deployed 2,000 officers with water cannons, drones, and heavy barricades at key routes including the Railway Museum and Ramkrishnapur Ghat to block access to the state secretariat.
• Undeterred by legal prohibitions, protesters sat in the roadway for about two hours near the Railway Museum and Ramkrishnapur Ghat, staging a sit-in and refusing to disperse.
• Torrential rain compounded the security clampdown and led organizers to withdraw the march by mid-afternoon without reported confrontations.
• Leaders said they will regroup and intensify actions in August to pressure the West Bengal government to implement Supreme Court reinstatement orders and clear dearness allowance arrears.