Amid the controversy over making ‘The Kashmir Files’ tax-free in Delhi, Kashmiri migrant teachers have rubbished Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia’s claim that the Delhi government had regularized them. The Government School Teachers’ Association (Pravasi) on Monday rubbished the Delhi government’s claims of regularizing Kashmiri Pandit teachers, saying they have been given permanent jobs after court intervention.

Speaking in the Delhi Assembly, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia had said that 233 Kashmiri migrant teachers were struggling to get regular in Delhi for years. He was working on contract. They were removed overnight, they did not have time to take the certificate. These Kashmiri teachers were threatened with sacking for not producing the certificates. It was CM Arvind Kejriwal who decided to support him and regularize the job.

Earlier, Deputy CM Sisodia said that he (Kejriwal) understood that it is the responsibility of the entire country to heal their (migrants) wounds. However, the Government School Teachers (Pravasi) Association rejected Manish Sisodia’s statement.

Talking about the incidents of their regularization, the teachers’ union said that in 2010, Kashmiri migrant teachers had approached the Delhi High Court on the issue. Five years later, in 2015, a single judge bench of the High Court ruled in favor of Kashmiri migrant teachers, which was later challenged by the Delhi government in a double bench of the High Court, which also directed regularization of them.

The government approached the Supreme Court in the matter, but the apex court also upheld the High Court’s decision and directed that the teachers be regularised. This was followed by regularization by the Delhi government in January 2019.

The teachers’ union said these incidents indicate that the Delhi government was never interested in the services of Kashmiri migrant teachers. In fact, the Delhi government opposed regularization till the end.

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