‘Political instigation’ behind beef-and-pork row in Howrah

HOWRAH: An agitation over pay hike snowballed into a protest over delivery of pork and beef by a section of Zomato delivery executives in north Howrah following active political interference. According to sources, two senior political leaders stood by the protesters after they came to know that a leader of another political party was backing the executives.
Mohsin Akhtar, who was among the protesters, however, rubbished the reports of political intervention and said, “This had to start somewhere.It started here.”
“Anger had been brewing over the issue for quite some time. For example, I come from Pilkhana. My family and friends will never accept the fact that I deliver pork. What we are demanding here is normal. We do not say we will not deliver beef, but let others deliver pork,” he argued.
Umesh Rai, BJP’s north Howrah leader, said, “When I heard of this sometime back, I told them that this is unacceptable. Nobody can force us to do things that infringe on our religious beliefs. I had asked them to protest and even assured them all help in my capacity.” Rai, however, added, “Now it appears that the Trinamool ministers are trying to hijack the issue.” According to him, this is not the first time that he’s supporting such a cause. In 2014, he said, beef was not allowed to be brought in the guise of red meat after his protests. “We had a long protest then in Howrah station complex,” said Rai, whose wife Gita was a councillor of Howrah’s Ward 13, which includes Pilkhana.
On Sunday, Trinamool ministers Arup Ray and Rajiv Banerjee had lent their weight behind the movement saying none could force anyone to act against their religious beliefs. North Howrah has given BJP leads in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, though Prasun Mukherjee, TMC MP, won the Howrah parliamentary seat.
A day after the ministers’ intervention, Howrah City Police has brokered a meeting with Zomato management and delivery executives in Kolkata on August 16. According to a source, the agitating salesmen had urged Howrah City Police to address their demands. They appealed to OC Golabari, Biswajit Banerjee, to convey their demands to Zomato top management.
On behalf of agitators, delivery executive Sujit Gupta said, “We are looking forward to the meeting. We hope our demands related to our commission, incentives and other problems will be addressed.” Zomato team leader in Howrah Sandip Kanrar said, “We hope the meeting yields results and Zomato services in north Howrah resume.” ACP north Pratiksha Jhajaria said, “We intervened to ensure that this agitation did not lead to any law and order problem. We appealed to their management to address their demands.”