The Left Front Govt of West Bengal wants to get rid of the Image of mans inhumanity to man rather than the reality of an inhumane society with inhuman living conditions for the labouring poor.
There is actually no humanity in the govt, for that would have meant working out a proper rehabilitation programme for the rickshaw pullers. Inhumanity, and vanity.
Creating an image, or dispelling an image versus actually erasing inhumanity.
Banning rickshaws without successfully arranging alternatives for the pullers means actually inflicting cruelty on the pullers, in the name of creating an image of humanity.
Hand and cycle rickshaws are appearing in cities in Europe today. One can visualise a regulated trade in Calcutta, where the puller derives a fair and humane wage.
There are also other forms of inhumanity domestic servitude, working conditions in the unorganised sector, living conditions of the urban poor in slums and shanties. On none of these is the govt doing anything.
The govt is also displaying its parochialism the pullers are predominantly Bihari. They are insecure, unorganised. Hence they are an easy target. Such biases can also be seen in Howrah sta
