Hawkers at Jadavpur station resist bulldozer

Midnight bulldozer action at Jadavpur railway station was obstructed with massive protests by hawkers who stayed awake the whole night anticipating eviction.

On Saturday, the Government Railway Police along with the Railway Protection Forces and the city police carried out an eviction drive around midnight. According to sources, more than 150 makeshift units were removed from the area in a surprise eviction drive.

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Hawkers at Jadavpur were anticipating a similar fate last night. With expectations of a similar action, the railway station area was almost taken over by a large number of hawkers who staged protests against the notice served to them. As the night progressed, hawkers holding placards staged demonstrations demanding immediate withdrawal of the eviction drive.

After years of dominance by the Trinamul Congress in the ballot box and the BJP recently, several Left-oriented supporters and hawkers demanded immediate rehabilitation of the hawkers. The agitation was being led by the Left leader Srijan Bhattacharya who also arrived at the spot along with Calcutta High Court advocate Firdous Samim. The Left leaders claimed that the eviction drive could not be carried out in this manner but has to be done following the norms of the court.

Situation at Jadavpur turned intense when a bulldozer arrived at the spot at around 1.20 a.m. The Left leaders along with numerous hawkers stood in front of the bulldozer, resisting such action. After much protests and negotiation with the GRP and the police, the bulldozer was withdrawn from the spot. Citing a court order, the Left leaders claimed that the eviction drive was stalled for around three weeks.

According to sources, the Railways have asked for supporting documents from the Left backed hawkers’ union. The Railways are said to scrutinise the papers submitted by the hawkers’ union and decide upon the next action accordingly.