Click to play videoKolkata: Seven months back, Mohammad Muslim got the shock of his life when West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya announced that he would not let rickshaws to ply on the streets of Kolkata any more.
That's exactly what he and some 2,000 others of his ilk have been doing for several decades.
Today at the age of 55, there isn't anything else that this Muslim can turn to for a living.
Thankfully for him, the proposed ban hasn't come into effect as yet. Perhaps, it has been put on hold till the elections are over.
"We don't want the rickshaws to be pulled off the road. But if the government decides to do so, how can we stop them? The power lies in their hands. But rickshaw has been a part of Kolkata since the British Raj," says Mohammad Muslim, a rickshaw puller.
The rickshaw-pullers of Kolkata protested against the proposed ban in whatever manner they could. But their rejoinders cut no ice with the administration.
For the rickshaw pullers, the summer of 2006 has come with a heavier burden than just the weight of passengers.
For, there is a distinct possibility that with this summer their very source of livelihood might cease to exist.
Yet, surprisingly, most rickshaw pullers today say they are going to vote for the CPI-M in the elections, hoping perhaps that it would be easier to deal with the known devil than an unknown one.
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