Kolkata: The bulldozer has been a consistent symbol of the month that has passed since the Bharatiya Janata Party was elected to form the government in West Bengal. The “double-engine” administration’s aggressive drive of bulldozer-led evictions across Kolkata and various parts of the state has destroyed livelihoods and driven the poorest to ruin. This fear has now also reached the book-selling hawkers of College Street, Kolkata’s renowned neighbourhood and the largest hub of booksellers in the country. And yet, there is also resistance.A protest rally on June 1, organised by Left-affiliated trade unions, witnessed a large turnout of workers, hawkers, and supporters who demanded an immediate halt to evictions and rehabilitation for those deprived of their means of livelihood.Raising slogans and carrying placards, the demonstrators urged the government to abandon what they termed a “bulldozer policy” and adopt a humane approach that safeguards both the rights and livelihoods of hawkers.A protest rally in Kolkata by Left-affiliated trade unions against hawker evictions without rehabilitation on June 1. Photo: Madhu Sudan Chatterjee.‘How long can they be stopped?’Gargi Chatterjee, a leader of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), who has been at the forefront of protests against the eviction of hawkers across the state said that the BJP’s manner of bulldozing is similar to how it introduced livestock trade regulations that effectively halted the sale of cattle and buffaloes in markets across the state, severely affecting the livelihoods of millions of poor and marginalised people irrespective of religion or caste.“Now bulldozers have been deployed at several railway stations, with the railway authorities and state police jointly carrying out eviction drives against hawkers. Sustained protests led by Left trade unions have so far succeeded in stalling such eviction drives at a few railway stations. But for how long can they be stopped?” she asked.Hawker’s stalls destroyed by the bulldozer at Dum Dum Station. Photo: By arrangement.Chatterjee highlighted how under BJP’s ‘Amrit Bharat Station’ project, railway stations are being transformed into glittering modern facilities, except with a few crucial caveats. “What is it if not an attempt to clear the way for corporate interests like Adani and Ambani to set up business while snatching away the daily bread of thousands of poor families,” she asked.Several hawkers at Howrah, Sealdah, and Dum Dum stations told this reporter that their association with the railways goes back many years.“We have developed a deep bond with passengers as well. We are often the first to assist them in times of need and regularly contribute to their safety and well-being. Did the railway and state administration consider this even once before carrying out these eviction drives?” said Madan Karmakar, a banana-seller at the Howrah Station.For many, the bulldozing of their stores was a brutal shock.Dulal Chakraborty, a hawker who sells chhole-bhaturey – chickpea presented with fried bread – at Sealdah Station, said, “My entire family voted for the BJP. The day after the election victory, I joined the celebratory procession, covered in saffron colours. BJP leaders had assured us that no hawker would have to pay extortion money to continue earning a living at the station.”Chakraborty added that although he had heard of the phrase “bulldozer raj,” he did not associate it with a reality close to him.“After coming to Bengal, the BJP has driven a bulldozer through the stomachs of people like us, the poorest and most vulnerable in society,” he said.The Dum Dum Station after the eviction drive. Photo: By arrangement.The question of rehabilitationIn the past three weeks alone, eviction drives have been carried out in and around the railway station areas of Howrah, Sealdah, Dum Dum, Sonarpur, Memari, and Uttarpara. Behind every demolished structure lies a larger story involving the daily struggle for survival, the source of food and income for lakhs of people, and what critics describe as the harsh realities of the ruling party’s broader economic policies.Railway authorities have put forward several arguments in support of the eviction drive against hawkers. These include concerns relating to passenger convenience, beautification of station premises, removal of waste, passenger safety, food quality standards, and the legal status of hawkers operating within railway areas.However, trade union leaders have challenged these claims.“When CITU leaders met railway officials to oppose the eviction of hawkers, the authorities argued that passengers were unable to move freely on the platforms because of the vendors,” said Ujjal Sarkar, a state leader of CITU.“But that is not the reality on the ground,” he added. “In many places, hawkers had already shifted their stalls outside the fenced area. The claim that they were obstructing passengers’ movement does not reflect the actual situation.”Several passengers voiced strong objections to the railway authorities’ concerns over the quality of food sold by hawkers on station platforms.Regular commuters Angshuman Haldar, Yadav Mishra, and Mansur Choudhury, who travel daily between Naihati and Sealdah for work at a private company in the Moulali area, told this reporter as much. “The inexpensive puffed rice [muri], luchi [fried bread], and vegetable curry sold by hawkers at various stations are what many of us eat every day. We have never faced any health problems because of it. Now these hawkers have been removed. Where are we supposed to buy food at affordable prices?” Mishra asked.All three spoke confidently of the fact that larger companies will now replace the hawkers and sell expensive food that lower-income passengers will struggle to afford.An area beside the Dum Dum Station after the eviction drive. Photo: By arrangement.Dum Dum stationWhile trade union-led fights helped hawkers resist eviction drives at stations including Ballygunge, Ranaghat, Belgharia, Halisahar, Jagaddal, Dum Dum Cantonment, Barasat, Baruipur, and Palashi, the authorities struck Dum Dum Station at midnight on May 30.Shortly after midnight, bulldozers rolled into the station premises and nearly 500 hawker stalls were demolished.“We were not given even a moment’s notice,” said Sujoy Karmakar. Bibhas Nandi, Bidisa Haldar, and several other hawkers this reporter spoke to said that as news of the operation spread, CITU leaders rushed to the spot and held discussions with railway officials. Earlier on May 30 morning, the Station Manager had reportedly assured hawkers that no immediate eviction would take place. Reassured by that promise, many of them had opened their stalls as usual and later returned home, unaware of what was to come.By midnight, the area had been sealed off by bulldozers, central security forces, and state police personnel. Trade union leaders appealed to railway authorities not to destroy the livelihoods of poor working people in such a manner. Former Left MP Tarit Baran Topdar also reached the site and urged railway officials to halt the demolition, saying that he would raise the matter with both the Railway minister and the prime minister.Gargi Chatterjee said, “The person who is now chief minister had once declared that he would stand in the way of any bulldozer being used against poor hawkers.”A hawker told this reporter that the BJP government’s approach could not be described with any word other than inhuman.“The Prime Minister’s life story has often been published with the claim that he once sold tea at a railway station. Yet it is under this government that one of the most organised drives against railway hawkers has been carried out,” the Dum Dum Station hawker added.The Dum Dum station manager did not answer the official phone line when The Wire rang. A station master answered instead and said that he could not comment on the matter.A hawker in tears at Dum Dum Station. Photo: By arrangement.Other economiesIt is a matter of irony that during the recent election campaigns in Bengal, photographs of the Prime Minister buying and eating jhalmuri from a street vendor was widely circulated in the media.Binoy Mondal, a puffed-rice trader at Sealdah Koley Market, told this reporter that a large section of his customers were hawkers who sold jhalmuri while moving through train compartments or from platforms across the station. Since their eviction, they have virtually stopped coming to purchase puffed rice from him, causing his own sales to collapse.“It is not only the hawkers who have suffered,” he said. “Countless others whose livelihoods depend on them have also been pushed into uncertainty.”Several people in Kolkata said that the drives ignore the complex network of livelihoods that sustains thousands of working-class families.A former MP speaksThe relationship between India’s railway hawkers and the Indian Railways stretches back decades. Hawkers have long been an integral part of the culture of rail travel, serving passengers across stations and train compartments while earning an honest livelihood. Over the years, they have repeatedly demanded official recognition of their work and their role in the railway ecosystem.According to former Member of Parliament Sunil Khan of the Durgapur constituency, a significant step in that direction was taken when Lalu Prasad Yadav served as Railway minister. Following sustained movements by Left trade unions and initiatives led by former Bankura MP Basudeb Acharia, the Railway ministry began a process to formally recognise railway hawkers. A list of hawkers was prepared across the country as part of that initiative.However, Khan alleged that the process was discontinued after TMC leader Mamata Banerjee became Railway Minister. “Alongside the abandonment of the recognition process, harassment of railway hawkers by the Railway Protection Force increased significantly,” he said.ResistanceYet the bulldozer offensive has not gone entirely unchallenged. In several places, people have organised resistance against the evictions.On the night of June 2, the railway authorities deployed bulldozers at Jadavpur railway station. A notice had already been circulated announcing that hawkers operating in and around the station would be removed.As news of the impending eviction spread, hawkers and local residents poured onto the streets in protest. Throughout Tuesday night, large numbers of people remained at Jadavpur Station, determined to defend their livelihoods and right to earn a living.Bulldozers at Jadavpur Station on the night of June 2. Photo: By arrangement.Among those who rushed to the spot were CPI(M) leaders Srijan Bhattacarya, Sudip Sengupta, Khokan Ghose Dastidar, and advocate Shamim Ahmed. A protest march was held inside the rail station premises with hawkers leading the demonstration against the eviction drive.Tension escalated sharply when hawkers spotted four bulldozers stationed at the side, apparently ready to begin the operation.Left leaders stood directly in front of the bulldozers, displaying court orders and arguing that the residents and hawkers of the Jadavpur Station area could not be evicted in such a manner. Speaking at the site, Srijan Bhattacharya said that under legal provisions stemming from a 1988 court directive, poor hawkers operating from commercial plots in the Jadavpur area cannot be removed without providing an alternative arrangement for their livelihood.Advocate Shamim Ahmed said, “The courts will reopen on June 8, We will challenge this matter legally and fight it in court.”Faced with legal arguments and mounting public opposition, railway authorities were ultimately compelled to step back from the proposed eviction drive on June 2.A protest rally by Left parties at Jadavpur Station on June 2. Photo: By arrangement.At the same time, the station witnessed a massive outpouring of protest from hawkers, many of whom feared losing their only source of income. Local residents also joined the agitation in large numbers, transforming the resistance into a broader people’s movement. Under the combined pressure of legal challenges and public mobilisation, the bulldozers were forced to retreat.Advocate Ahmed said that eviction without rehabilitation amounts to a betrayal of the spirit of the constitution. “Railway policing cannot stand above constitutional rights,” he said.Bulldozing books The bulldozer campaign is not only devastating the lives and livelihoods of railway hawkers. Anxiety and uncertainty have also gripped Kolkata’s College Street.This century-old hub of book selling, established before India’s independence, grew around Bankim Chatterjee Street and Shyamacharan De Street in College Street. It is not merely a marketplace for books. Printing, publishing, binding, and every other aspect of the book trade is carried out here. The ecosystem also supports a number of porters and manual labourers whose livelihoods depend on the industry.Every year, as rains lash Kolkata, countless books are submerged and destroyed. Despite suffering enormous losses, the book hub recovers and returns to life each time through the determination and hard work of its booksellers.“Although we have not yet received any official notice from the Kolkata Municipal Corporation, a few days ago some people claiming to be employees of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation came here and asked us to vacate. Later, police informed us that those selling books on the pavements would have to leave by June 6,” said a hawker, requesting that we protect his identity.Several hawkers told other reporters too that they had been visited by police and given verbal orders to move.A duty officer of Amherst Street Police Station who refused to identify himself said that those reports were rumours. “Booksellers should focus on running their businesses properly. Police did not go there to talk about any evictions. All those reports as rumours,” he said.Kolkata Municipal Corporation Commissioner Smita Pandey told journalists a day ago that the corporation has no plans to evict the bookseller hawkers of College Street. She said rumours are being spread on the eviction.The CPI(M) organised a protest meeting on June 3 against the proposed eviction drive. Large numbers of hawkers attended the gathering.