I am one of the unlucky passengers who got caught in the tussle between loco pilots and railway authorities in Kochi. However much I thought, I could not find any logic in trying to protest by keeping passengers hostage. These things are not good for a responsible society.
I reached Kochi from Kozhikode by 10am. My destination was Pathanamthitta. The plan was to get down at Thiruvalla and go by car from there. I got down at Ernakulam South because I had come by the train to Thiruvananthapuram via Alappuzha. I found out that the next train from there was the Ernakulam-Kayamkulam passenger, at 11.30am.
I got into the train well in advance. At the time of departure, the train did not leave. Since I was engrossed in reading, I did not notice this first. I understood that something was amiss, when I heard the murmurs of other passengers. Even after noon, the train did not move. And, everyone was looking at me with the hope that if I, a former member of parliament and a public worker, intervened, the train might leave. By 12.30pm the announcement came. It said the train will not leave because of technical reasons. This totally upset the passengers. Many of them requested me to do something. I was in a sad state were neither my work was getting done nor I could not help others.
Without much delay I understood that my journey was disrupted because loco pilots were protesting against tests to find out whether they have consumed alcohol. What angered drivers was the introduction of a new system for breathalyser tests. But when they strike in protest, shouldn’t they think that they will cause inconvenience to thousands of passengers?
We always stand with loco pilots in their campaign for rights. We will continue to do so. Protecting the rights of workers is very important for us. However, adopting an emotional way of protesting, causing inconvenience to people who are travelling for some purpose or the other through flash strikes cannot be justified.
If someone has to undergo a test, what is there to protest? The most important thing is people’s safety. What is wrong in ensuring that the people who run the train that carries thousands of passengers do so with total discipline and a sense of responsibility? Isn’t it like that for pilots of aircraft? They are responsible for people’s lives. There is nothing more important than people’s rights, their safety and their life.
I took the Memu via Alappuzha, got down at Kayamkulam, and reached Pathanamthitta at 4.10pm. The district council meeting that I was going to attend was scheduled for 2pm. I had to cancel a programme in Nedumangad in the evening. Like me, many people must be unhappy because they could not do what they had planned to do.
(The writer is a member of CPI’s national secretariat)