A Cat and Mouse Game: On the ‘School Thik Karo’ Trail with the Cockroaches

Greater Noida: The Uttar Pradesh administration knew exactly which government schools the Cockroach Janta Party would be visiting in Greater Noida on September 22. How they found out is anybody’s guess.

Even before the small CJP School Thik Karo team consisting of Saurav Das and other CJP members got off the Greater NOIDA expressway to enter the villages where they would be visiting schools, they found themselves being tailed by a car with a Delhi numberplate and a ‘Police’ sticker.   

Undeterred, they reached their first destination - a government primary school in Jaitpur village, only to be greeted by a shiny new padlock on the school’s main gate. 

While many have endorsed and supported CJP’s School Thik Karo initiative, others have criticised it saying non-school personnel have no business “trespassing on government property”, “disrupting a school”, or “creating a confrontational atmosphere.” 

What I witnessed, however, was a very polite exchange between Saurav Das and the teacher who finally came to the gate. No slogans were raised, and there was no shouting. With folded hands, Das requested the teacher to please let even two or three members of the team into the premises to walk around and see the school premises for themselves. The teacher, equally politely, said she did not have the authority to do so. 

CJP spokesperson Saurav Das and other members and volunteers at the school in Greater Noida which was visited by the CJP as part of its School Thik Karo campaign. Photo: Rohit Kumar.

The back and forth went on for about 10 minutes till it became abundantly clear that the teacher was not going to let anyone in. She almost didn’t need to, because the condition of the school was evident even from outside the gate. The grounds were overgrown and the building was dilapidated. 

A local resident living directly opposite the school pointed out that the boundary wall was being raised, apparently without cement. This construction had begun only a few days ago. According to this man, the wall was being raised expressly to prevent people outside from looking in and seeing the condition of the school.

'PR and publicity'

Varun, a CJP core team member whom I had first met during the Jantar Mantar protest, and at whose invitation I had joined the team that day, explained:

“Not being allowed to enter a government school is not unique to Noida. No matter what state we have been to, schools have been given strict instructions not to let us in. The teachers are afraid of losing their jobs if a video about their school goes viral. We were tailed by cops today and the school gate was locked five minutes before we arrived. So this cat and mouse game continues. As you can hear from the noise of children inside, classes are on, but the main gate is closed. If the UP government really is doing as wonderful a job with its schools as it says it is, then what have they got to hide?“

Mohan, another CJP volunteer, chimed in: “Yogi ji, if you spent as much on these schools as you did on your own PR and publicity, these schools would actually become world class!”   

Outside the school, the mother of a four-year-old looked visibly upset and told us she had come to pick up her her child from the school but could not enter as the gate was locked.

The CJP team moved on to the next school on their list, this time in a village called Makaudaa. A group of policemen stood near the school, awaiting our arrival.

What was striking about this school was a freshly painted low boundary wall that stood out in sharp contrast to the rest of the school. A hand pump seemed to be the only source of drinking water for the children and grass grew thick and heavy on the roofs of the classrooms. The large school grounds looked as if they had been cleared and cleaned very recently. 

As the CJP team found out, the SDM and BSA (Basic Shiksha Adhikari) somehow had prior intimation about the Cockroaches’ visit and just a couple of days ago, had tractors clean out the grounds and remove a’tabela’ (a place where cattle are kept) from the school premises.  

CJP activists visit a school at a village in Greater Noida as part of its School Thik Karo campaign. Photo: Rohit Kumar.

After speaking to the school principal who also refused permission to enter, Das said, “Once again, the gates to this ‘temple of learning’ are locked, but it seems our visit has had an impact in that at least some progress is happening in cleaning up the school. We consider this a positive outcome. But I want to ask the Yogi sarkar once again, why are you so scared of the youth of the country and the CJP wanting to do a simple social audit of the schools? What is the need to call the police?”

'Because we love our country'

One of the school teachers also quietly told a CJP member through the locked gate that the teachers were secretly were happy with the CJP visit because “this way at least some saaf-safaai is happening!” 

Just as the CJP team was about to leave, an elderly man on a motorcycle rode up and started shouting and calling them tukde- tukde gang deshdrohis! He then screamed at one of the women CJP members, “Bolo Modi ji ki jai! Bolo Modi ji ki jai!”

The woman (who was not a Modi supporter) calmly responded by saying, “Modi ji ki jai! Happy?” 

As the nonplussed man tried to figure out what to say next, she said, “Uncle ji, please understand, political leaders are here today and gone tomorrow, but your grandchildren need a good education to get ahead in life, do you agree?”

The old man on the bike nodded.

“All we want," she continued, “is for all our children to have good schools to go. You don’t have a problem with that, do you? That’s why we are here. Because we love our country.”

It was a fascinating moment to say the least, and most certainly gave the now quieter uncle ji something to think about.

The third stop of the day was at a village called Devla. This was by far the dirtiest village we had visited. The narrow street leading up to the school was muddy and filthy, with mounds of garbage on both sides. According to the local residents, every morning this road becomes a river a veritable stream of sewage that kids often slip in. 

Here too, the school gate was padlocked. Here too, a posse of policemen were waiting. Saurav Das pointed out the terrible condition of the school and the road leading up to it and said, “Mahesh Sharma from BJP has been the MP of this area but look at the condition of this place. Is this what MPs should be like?”

A resident of the village pointed out, “We spent our own money to fix up this road as best as we could.”

Saurav continued, “The youth of the country is waking up. Now everyone else also needs to wake up and think about who they are voting for. The time for Hindu-Muslim and caste based politics is over. We need to start voting sensibly.”

While he was still talking, a couple of local louts suddenly burst upon the scene. 

“Stop trying to tell us there is something wrong here,” they screamed. “Everything is just fine here!! You are all paid stooges!”

It would have been funny if it hadn’t been so tragic. 

CJP's Varun (the man with the beard on the right) and rabblerousers on the left. Photo: Rohit Kumar.

A scuffle broke out as the goons tried to manhandle Das. The CJP volunteers stepped in and finally, so did the police that was standing around. After much screaming and shouting, the goons backed off and we all left, our small convoy once again trying to negotiate the narrow, sewage-filled street we had just driven through.

As the expedition drew to a close, I asked Saurav how he felt about getting so much rejection in one day. His response was stoic: “This is not entirely unexpected under such regimes. They will, of course, try to stop people from revealing the truth of today’s times. We did not announce that we are coming here but the administration put its entire resources into finding out where we were going and when. A lot of their focus is on hiding things rather than actually fixing things. This is why the country is in this state today. 

He also said, "Eighty years after Independence we still have to face these roads and face such schools and the future of our country still studies in such dilapidated conditions. Schools are supposed to be temples of learning, but today even the temples are locked for the people.This is the reality of Yogi’s government. Hopefully they will reflect on what they are doing.”

Rohit Kumar is an educator. He can be reached at letsempathize@gmail.com.

The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.