Who was master Kalicharan, the dedicated govt teacher Punjab CM Mann talked about in the House

So who was master Kalicharan, a government teacher, whose name echoed in Punjab assembly today?

Also known as a comrade, Kalicharan Kaushik was a government school teacher cum communist leader who led several protests and agitations in Punjab for rights of teachers and students. A senior leader of Government Teachers Union Punjab, he held no formal training in teaching and had joined Punjab education department as an untrained Junior Basic Training (JBT) teacher. He was only class-10 pass but such was his influence that he inspired thousands of rural children to study and was the force behind opening of several government schools in rural areas.

An ‘anti-establishment’ teacher, he was suspended from the job and jailed several times for raising voice against the governments in corruption cases. He died at 78 and his family lives in Sunam town of Sangrur.

Interestingly, after clearing class-10 in 1954, his first posting was at Government Primary School, Bir Kalan, few kilometres away from Mann’s native village Satoj in Sangrur district.

After his demise, his son Rohit Kaushik converted his handwritten diary into a biography ‘Laal Jild’ which describes several struggles and agitations that he led for rights of teachers in Punjab and those when he refused to bow before corrupt practices.

In a chapter titled ‘Pehli Pathshala’, Kalicharan while writing about his first school as a kid, said that at Government High School, Sunam, there were no boundary walls. Boys used to bunk classes and go out to pluck fruits from trees, and sincere boys like him who spent entire day in school, were considered dumb.

He further wrote that often he would feel uncomfortable with his name ‘Kalicharan’ which his parents gave him probably because of his dark skin color. “I was dark… maybe that’s why I was named Kalicharan. I used to find it very different and weird from other boys but when my mother used to call me “Kaali ve kaali” with love, I used to adore my name. My father was a poor Brahmin man,” he wrote, adding that his tattered footwear would make it difficult for him to walk but once he got ‘Bata’ slippers as a priced gift.

Another chapter in the book describes how he, along with his colleagues, had raised slogans of “Punjab Police murdabaad, agva bacche nu baraamad karo” outside Sunam Sadar police station after a 9-year old kid was abducted and eventually killed, but the Inspector General (IG) had refused to meet the parents. The incident had created such fear that parents had stopped sending children to schools, he wrote.

In his own words, Kalicharan wrote that he and his colleague Hem Raj had joined as “untrained JBT teachers” but they refused to toe the government line when asked to undergo compulsory training.

He also led a massive agitation against the ‘kirat tax’ (professional tax) which was imposed on government employees, which was eventually rolled back.

“During a massive protest against government, false FIRs were filed against teachers. As per the FIR filed against me, I threatened to put police station on fire and tore cop’s uniform. It was all lie, sangharsh de raah tey naare hi saade hathiyaar ne(path of protests and slogans were our only weapon). The court sent me to judicial custody. I told the judge that if the government is so scared of me, I will leave Punjab),” wrote the late teacher who had retired in 1995.

While the issue of favours and kickbacks in teachers’ postings continues to rage till date, Kalicharan had written in his diary, “Teachers used to do sycophancy of officials and politicians for favored postings. We did several protests to get rules for transfers streamlined. Then education minister Sukhjinder Singh issued a rules booklet ‘Laal Kitaab’ but our colleague was transferred going against those written rules. We took Laal Kitaab to the minister and threw it on his face as protest. We were arrested..”

Suspended thrice from work for participating in protests and jailed four times, he also spent 85 days in Burail Jail for rights of unemployed teachers in 1978.

His son Varinder Kaushik (46) who runs a medical store in Sunam, said that such was the passion of his father to teach rural children that he would himself provide them with fatti (wooden slates) and kalam (wooden pencils). “He got more than 50 schools opened in Sangrur, Barnala and other districts. Once when Laxman Singh Gill was the CM, he led agitation at Chandigarh against meagre salaries of ad hoc teachers which led to the implementation of Kothari commission. He was brutally thrashed in police lathicharge several times but never stopped agitating for rights.”

He said that family was glad that CM Mann remembered his father but teachers were still suffering under the AAP government. “Recently we fought against education department for stopping class 6 admissions in Schools of Eminence. They are providing uniforms to SC/OBC children but not from general category, who are also very poor. There is no place for discrimination in education. Teachers are still on roads for their rights,” said Varinder, who is also a social worker. “Mann’s father used to visit us often.”

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Rohit adds: “Our father was a symbol and his name signifies those numerous struggles which have been fought by teachers for decades. If Mann really respects our father, they should do something for entire teaching community.”