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Kankinara: On the morning of June 28, 59-year-old train hawker Kartik Sau took his own life. Sau was a resident of the Durganagar area of Kankinara in North 24 Parganas of West Bengal. His death marks the fear among hawkers in Bengal since the new Bharatiya Janata Party government began eviction drives at railway stations from mid-May this year.

Sau’s only source of livelihood were the railway tracks. This is also where he chose to die.

Hawkers selling goods on running trains and railway stations say they are living in constant fear of losing their only source of income.  Their families, too, are trapped in the same uncertainty. Many allege that the ongoing eviction drive linked to railway infrastructure and redevelopment has been carried out with little regard for the lives and survival of thousands of economically vulnerable people.

The impact has extended beyond the stations. Makeshift settlements along the railway tracks- home to many hawkers and other low- income families have also been demolished by bulldozers action, leaving numerous families without either a livelihood or a roof over their head. Stripped of both income and shelter, many among these marginalized communities now find themselves pushed into extreme destitute.

Kartik Sau’s name is now another addition to the growing list of railway hawkers whose lives have ended amid this crisis. His unnatural death has raised a troubling question: Was it inevitable that hawkers should be driven out or prevented from earning a living on running rains in this manner?

Sau earned a living by selling jhalmuri, a spicy puffed-rice snack that gained popularity as a symbol during the BJP’s campaign in Bengal ahead of the April elections in the state. Sau would ply his trade on express trains departing from Sealdah.

During a campaign visit to Jhargram in the........

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