Army claims that they are encroachments

Four government schools and a college in Matadahalli near J.C. Nagar turned into a battleground on Tuesday as parents, students and teachers squared off with defence personnel who attempted to demolish ‘encroachments’ on their land.

Teachers and children — from Class 1 to Class 12 — locked themselves in their classrooms from around 2.30 p.m. to 6.30 p.m. to thwart the army personnel. When parents learnt about it, they barged into the campus to take up cudgels on behalf of the children.

The stand-off over the institutions ended with the army deferring the demolition until the outcome of a meeting between the State government and Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar. The plot houses a Government Model Primary School (Kannada, Urdu and Tamil medium) and Government High School, and the Government Junior Composite College. The schools were built on army land over a century ago.

Earlier this year, the Defence Estate Officer had sent two notices to ‘the schools to clear the premises and remove the building/immovable structures’. Both were ignored. The stand-off started when army officers arrived to reclaim the plot.

On seeing them, teachers and nearly 1,800 students locked themselves inside classrooms. Soon hundreds of parents arrived, followed by more army personnel who set a two-hour deadline to clear the area.

With neither side budging, the army personnel set up a tent on the premises while parents surrounded the schools. Soon, government officials, politicians and Education Department officers arrived to resolve the issue.

Students left the classrooms in batches around 6.30 p.m. after the Education Minister intervened to bring about a temporary truce.

The standoff

Began at 2.30 pm

Children and teachers lock themselves in classrooms

Classrooms unlocked around 6.30 pm