Assault by hawkers triggers traders’ protest at New Mkt

Kolkata: New Market traders on Thursday took to the streets, formed a human chain, and blocked Bertram Street after a section of hawkers allegedly assaulted three employees of a stationery shop in B Block of the Grade-I heritage building. Three workers, Mohammed Sahid, Mukhtar and Miraj, were beaten up by a group of around 25 hawkers outside Gate No. 18 of New Market.The trouble broke out when Mukhtar went out of the New Market shop (B-36) to unload goods meant for the shop at Gate No. 18. As they engaged in a spat over a delay in the removal of the delivery van parked in front of a hawker's dala, a couple of hawkers started beating Mukhtar. As Sahid came forward to rescue him, over a dozen hawkers surrounded them and punched them brutally. Miraj, who came later, was not spared either.
A group of hawkers entered New Market and went to identify the owner of Shop No. B-36. As Debobrata Ghosh, another employee at the shop, confronted them, the hawkers threatened him with dire consequences. Talking to TOI, Mukhtar complained about the hooliganism of a section of ‘militant' hawkers. "Without hearing my logic on the delay in the removal of the delivery van, the hawkers started showering blows on me. My shirt was torn and I was left wounded. No hawker came to my help. I felt insulted more than the pain," complained Mukhtar.As an alarm bell started ringing, traders in large numbers gathered on Bertram Street and decided to protest the assault on them by forming a human chain. Cops from the New Market Police Station rushed to the spot as the busy road was blocked, and shoppers were refused entry.Seeing cops in large numbers, a section of traders vented their anger over cop inaction in removing encroachment from all streets around New Market. Cops gave a patient hearing to the traders' grievances but advised them to lodge a formal complaint with the New Market PS. "If the traders lodge a formal complaint, we will track down the errant hawkers and take them into custody," said a senior officer present at the spot.However, the irate traders complained about a reign of terror unleashed by some hawkers backed by a section of ruling party leaders. "Time and again, we lodged complaints against hawker-raj in and around New Market. The rampant encroachment of carriageways by hawkers virtually put an end to our business prospects," said Ashok Gupta, the president of SS Hogg Market Traders Association.Uday Sahoo, secretary of the association, said: "The assault laid bare how vulnerable we were. It was unthinkable that workers from our stalls would be beaten up and hawkers would enter the market chasing our colleagues. How long will we tolerate this?"