Untimely drive against footpath hawkers

Nilratan Halder | Published: June 18, 2016 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

Encroachment of footpaths and even some portion of the road in the capital and other cities or towns has been ever so galling. Pedestrians are forced to use road spaces for faster movement, albeit at a risk. But if they use the narrow space left barely unoccupied, they have to negotiate a thick mass of human procession that scarcely move ahead. Then there are others coming from the opposite direction. Pushing and dashing either from fingers or elbows go on without any let-up.
How does one feel when on a fine morning one discovers that the footpaths are all clear where there were vendors of readymade trousers, T-shirts, socks, shoes, spectacles and an assorted commodities displayed? Sure enough, the immediate reaction is a sense of relief. But when people find that it is in some particular area of office blocks that the eviction drive has been enforced, at least some of them smell rat in it. If the timing of the drive is taken into consideration, the suspicion becomes a confirmation.
Already the fasting month has begun and hawkers in the city count on this time for making the most of the time. They were not disturbed for the past five months of the current year. Now they have been evicted, it cannot be without an ulterior motive. Remarkable here is that in some other areas, hawkers did not have to face similar problem. But in some segments of roads, it was the case.
Who are behind the current eviction drive? If the Dhaka South City Corporation and the Dhaka North City Corporation really wanted to evict hawkers, they would have to make public announcement on TV and radio or published notices in newspapers. No such thing was visible. The law enforcement authorities have to take mandate from relevant authorities.
Such drives are conducted as an eye-wash most of the time. No one means business. If they did, they had to be pragmatic enough for really making their drives a success. In fact, the purpose is to harass hawkers of different areas at different times so that the eviction does not become a one-at-a-time push and make big news. Localised measure serves their purpose better. For a few days hawkers stay away but then they start coming back to claim their illegal possession.
In the meantime, though, a handsome amount of money exchange hands and mediators often connected with political stalwarts take their share, the law enforcers are also given their share too. All are happy except perhaps the hawkers who incur losses due to their absence for a few days from the scene. Law does not or is not allowed to take its own course in this process.
Admittedly, it is difficult to be on the side of hawkers. But then there is no rationale behind harassing them at a time when they are also preparing for celebrating the great festival Eid-ul-Fitr. If they cannot earn enough, their celebration will suffer. Now, they do not get any pay packages or bonuses before the Eid. All they do is rely on the income proceed from their small trade. So there is no justification in disturbing them or disrupting their trade at this time. It is unwise, cruel and unreasonable.
When they are doing business -no matter the small of its kind, the social parasites are extracting toll from them. And to this illegal task, the law enforces also become a party. The crux of the problem lies here. It is because of this, drives against hawkers cannot be successful. If there is no alternative means of livelihood or place for them to conduct trade, the young hawkers will turn anti-social and commit crimes. That is not a good prospect.
They are engaged in trade but on their income others are claiming their unearned share. There is not a foul business but the parasitic practice is. Rehabilitation of hawkers makes sense. But how you do it matters most. There should be clear policies and guidelines for this purpose so that ultimately they get integrated with mainstream business. This will boost the country's economy. Their enterprises are their assets and those should be made good use of.