Denied cricket practice on ground, children stage protest

The officer told PTI that she had got information that about 25 children aged between eight and 12 are going on foot to submit a memorandum to the district magistrate. He said the children were going to submit a memorandum to the DM in Shahjahanpur but the problem was resolved by the deputy district magistrate.

Angry over an exhibition being held at a ground where they play cricket in Jalalabad here, around 25 children aged between eight and 12 staged a demonstration on Thursday. Waving a Tricolour, they set out on foot to submit a memorandum to the district magistrate at the district headquarters, some 35 kilometres away from Jalalabad.

After hearing this, Jalalabad Deputy District Magistrate Barkha Singh went to meet the children. The officer told PTI that she had got information that about 25 children aged between eight and 12 are going on foot to submit a memorandum to the district magistrate. She stopped the children on the road and listened to their problem. She said the children told her that they play cricket on an inter-college playground but a few days ago, a clerk at the college misbehaved with them and now an exhibition is being organised there. Due to this, the children are not being allowed to play, they told the officer. Rajat Sharma, a cricket coach, said on June 21, when the children were practising, the college clerk drove them away and gave the place for an exhibition. He said the children were going to submit a memorandum to the DM in Shahjahanpur but the problem was resolved by the deputy district magistrate. Barkha Singh said she called the college administration and ordered it to get the place vacated. The officer assured the children that if they face any problem in future, they are free to come to her office.