Taxi drivers in Shimla go on strike amid union rivalry
Shimla, June 22
Operators of Shimla taxi union on Thursday went on strike demanding the arrest of those who allegedly attacked their colleagues during a fight with the members of a rival union last week.
On June 17, a driver of Sirmaur’s Chudeshwar Taxi Union while showing hotel rooms to a tourist near Auckland Tunnel got into a scuffle with the members of Devbhoomi Taxi Union from Shimla.
The scuffle was soon joined by other members of the two taxi unions who went at one another with rods, wooden sticks, and other items and broke window panes of several taxis.
The Shimla Taxi Union went on strike after 10 am Thursday and took out a march from the Accountant General (AG) office near the state Assembly to the Deputy Commissioner office near Mall Road where they staged a demonstration.
“We demand that all people involved in the fight be arrested and unauthorised guides be removed,” Devbhoomi Taxi Union president Ajay Thakur told PTI.
Both the taxi unions operate in Shimla.
Meanwhile, tourists were stranded in absence of cabs, and locals, especially those who were supposed to ferry back their children from school, too found themselves with little resort in the way of commuting.
“I had to take a half-day leave to pick up my daughter,” said Ashish, a local.
Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Minister Anirudh Singh told reporters on Thursday that everyone had the right to ply their trade in Himachal Pradesh, which he termed a “devbhoomi”.
“The Congress is a secular party and I have never talked about regionalism. Some people with vested interest are giving regional colour to the matter,” he said and accused the BJP leaders of flaring the issue.
“I have said that people involved in violence should be arrested and unauthorised taxis and guides, irrespective of the area, should be removed,” he added.
Shimla Superintendent of Police Sanjeev Kumar Gandhi said the conflict was a fallout of competition between the two taxi unions and a committee has been constituted by the deputy commissioner to find a permanent solution to the problem.
On Tuesday, Chudeshwar Taxi Union too had mounted a protest outside the DC office saying that regionalism would not be tolerated.
Pacifying the Shimla taxi union, minister Anirudh Singh had on Monday said the guides from Sirmaur stopping tourist vehicles in the town would be removed.
Leader of the opposition Jai Ram Thakur in a statement issued on Tuesday said that Shimla, the capital, belongs to all the people of the state.
He also called Singh’s statement on the matter an attack on the federal structure, aimed at breaking the state.
