Road competition: Wagon drivers accused of harassment

Rickshaw drivers say they are stopped from plying wagon routes.

FAISALABAD:

Scores of Qing Qi rickshaw drivers staged a demonstration here on Tuesday accusing wagon drivers of harassment.

The protesters gathered on Sargodha Road and chanted slogans against wagon drivers. They also demanded immediate police action against wagon drivers, who they said, had beaten up some rickshaw drivers a few days ago. They alleged that wagon drivers had made such intimidation a routine and frequently thrashed them (rickshaw drivers) for driving on their routes and picking up passengers.

The protesters first sat in front of the office of the district coordination officer and later rallied to the Commissioner’s Complex.

Muhammad Amin, one of the protesters, said that a few days ago, some wagon drivers had abused and thrashed some rickshaw drivers because the latter had refused to stop plying their rickshaws on the routes where wagons operated. He said the wagon drivers had accused them of grouping against them and deliberately picking their (wagon) passengers from bus stops. A few days ago, he said, a rickshaw driver, Mazhar Hussain, had picked up a passenger from a wagon stop near Bolay Di Jhuggi Chowk.

He said wagon driver Abdul Ghafoor, who reached the stop at the time, had told Mazhar Hussain not to drive on that route. When Mazhar Hussain refused, Amin said, Ghafoor beat him up.

He said wagon drivers Naseer Ahmad and Khadim Hussain had also joined him in the beating.

He said some rickshaw drivers Arif Ali, Liaqat Ali and Muhammad Munawwar had rescued Mazhar Hussain. For this, they too, were beaten up. Some passers-by then intervened to stop the beating.

Amin said they had informed the police, but no one had arrived at the scene.

The protesting rickshaw drivers later rallied on several roads before a sit-in in front of the Commissioner’s Complex.

They protested for a while before Assistant Commissioner Zaheer Anwar Jappa visited the scene and assured the protesters that an inquiry would be initiated on their complaint.

He said if found guilty of assault, the wagon drivers would be dealt with under the law.

The protesters then called off the protest.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 28^th, 2013.