KOLKATA was surprised when there was no ‘taxi’ on the streets on August 7. Whoever thinks of Kolkata always recollects a picture of it with yellow cars with blue strips on it. Kolkata taxis are mostly driven by migrants who, in search of bread and butter, have become cab drivers in Kolkata and nearby places. Fifty thousand cabs roaming around Kolkata serve as a basic and the only means to earn a livelihood for a huge number of people. A day’s off or for even a few hours means a cut in the daily earnings of those who are dependent on the Kolkata cabs for their livelihood.

On August 7, knowing full-well the stakes and the effects of a single day of no earning at all, the cab drivers of Kolkata refused to drive. What has compelled them to take this decision? In West Bengal, every instance that leaves the people with no other choice but to protest is primarily caused by the state government itself. The state transport minister has announced the withdrawal of 60% of public transport buses, seizure and cancellation of thousands of ‘auto’ permits and cancellation and withdrawal of at least 50% of taxis from the roads of Kolkata and in the state overall, through the issuance of few permits and vehicles.  Public transport is now badly affected due to the anti-people policies of the state government.

The taxi drivers have been forced to come onto the streets in protest. The state government was keen to turn the taxi service into a ‘no refusal’ one. This turned into a means to collect a sort of extortion money in the name of ‘fine’ charged on the taxi drivers if any refusal is made by them. The ‘fine’ amount was increased by this government to three thousand rupees from rupees hundred. The traffic police started collecting ‘fine’ wherever and ‘whenever’ they intended for. If the drivers ever denied paying the amount charged, that led to the cancellation of their license in many cases.

On August 7, the taxi drivers did not show up for work in the morning. The taxis were queued-up by the streets and were in garages. They gathered one by one at the Dorina Crossing in Esplanade, Kolkata for the rally called upon for protesting such an oppressive stand of the state government and the police administration. As the time passed, the rally turned into a massive one flooding the other sides of Esplanade area. The rally was organized by the CITU, the AITUC and the AICCTU, and was attended by more than twenty five thousand drivers, surprising the police administration. In fact, all trade unions and associations of taxi drivers joined the rally. There was immense pressure on higher police officials of Laalbazar from the state government, forcing the police to come to the streets and the police themselves stirred up a nuisance at the peaceful rally at College Square. Twenty two taxi drivers were arrested on false charges.

On August 11,  the taxi drivers took out another huge protest march from Subodh Mullick square, culminating in a civil disobedience at Rani Rasmoni Road where leaders of the CITU and other organisations courted arrest. The government had fuelled the workers anger by arresting the taxi drivers on false charges and purposefully creating a mess at the August 7 protest, which had taken on the form of a strike. This anger drove at least five thousand taxi drivers to join the next protest march. The leaders of the movement declared on that day that if the 22 arrested drivers were not released unconditionally and if the demands of the taxi drivers and owners were not met, their movement would escalate exponentially in the coming days. On August 13, the West Bengal state transport minister announced that he would sit in discussion with the taxi owners, bypassing the taxi drivers unions. His diversionist ploy was cleanly discarded by the protesters who stated that no one would participate in any dialogue unless all unions were called to the discussion table.

The 22 taxi drivers arrested against non-bailable charges on August 7 spent four nights in jail custody and were brought to the Bankshal court on August 12. In spite of the opposition of the government attorney and the police, the Judge granted them conditional bail. Several thousands were waiting for their colleagues outside the court on that day, making their absence felt across the taxi-starved roads of the city. The pressure of the movement finally brought the government to concede to a meeting with all taxi owners and taxi drivers’ organisations and unions on August 13 at 1 pm. Even before the meeting, the government’s authoritarian and reactionary attitude was in plain sight with the transport minister’s statement that the meeting did not imply that the government would accept the demands of the protesters.

As expected, the meeting on the 13th did not yield any solutions due to the government’s reactionary stand and the arrogant misdemeanor of the transport minister. The taxi unions have said with force that their movement will by no means end here and they will continue to protest until their demands are met. They are in the know of the inconvenience caused to the passengers and have expressed their sympathy. At this point it was anticipated by the state government that the movement would dissipate.

Yet, the morning of August 18 had brought back to the streets of Kolkata the experience of August 7. Kolkata was surprised when there were no ‘taxi’ on the streets and alleys, again.