Mumbai taxi driver takes poet to police station for phone call on protests
Dhairya GajaraMUMBAI, FEBRUARY 07, 2020 00:57 IST
UPDATED: FEBRUARY 07, 2020 11:04 IST
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Speaking out: Bappadittya Sarkar at the Mumbai Bagh protest on Wednesday.
Speaking out: Bappadittya Sarkar at the Mumbai Bagh protest on Wednesday.
Driver reacts to passenger’s phone conversation, mentioning ‘protest’, in cab
Little would have Jaipur-based poet Bappadittya Sarkar imagined that his mention of the word ‘protest’ during a phone conversation while travelling in Mumbai could land him at a police station.
Mr. Sarkar was returning to Kurla from Juhu in an Uber cab on Wednesday, when he called a friend to discuss the ongoing protests in the country against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA). However, unknown to him, the driver was not only overhearing Mr. Sarkar’s side of the conversation but also reacting to it. And instead of taking the passenger to the destination, he drove the poet to the Santacruz police station.
In a series of messages, which were later shared on Twitter by activist Kavita Krishnan, Mr. Sarkar narrated his ordeal.
“I was at Silver Beach, Juhu, last night, and booked a cab around 10:30-10:45 to go back to Kurla, where I’m staying. As I got in the cab, I called a friend of mine and we were talking about protest cultures in different cities, what happened at Shaheen Bagh yesterday, people’s discomfort with ‘Laal Salaam’ and how we could make Jaipur’s protests more effective. Some 10-20 minutes into the conversation, my Uber driver stopped and asked if he could use the ATM. I agreed. Minutes later, he came back with two policemen and that’s when I realised he had gotten me to a police station,” Mr. Sarkar tweeted.
Questioned by police
He went on to recall how the policemen started quizzing him, and that he had to explain that he was carrying a dafli (a hand drum) because he was at the Mumbai Bagh protest earlier in the day.
At this point, the driver allegedly said, “Sir aap isko andar lo, ye desh jalane ki baat kar raha hai, bol raha hai main communist hoon, hum Mumbai mein Shaheen Bagh bana deinge, mere pass poori recording hai. (Sir, please put him behind the bars. He was talking about setting fire to the country, saying he is a communist and talking about making a Shaheen Bagh in Mumbai. I have the entire recording).”
Mr Sarkar told the policemen to listen to the recording and arrest him if they find him saying he would will burn the or anything that is inciting or can be perceived as anti-national. He also asked the Uber driver what he had taken offence to.
“He responded ‘Tum desh barbaad kardoge aur hum dekhtye raheinge? Main kahin aur le jaa sakta tha tujhe, shukr mana police station laaya hun.’ (Will we just stand by and watch while you destroy the country? I could have taken you anywhere. Be thankful I only brought you to the police station) It was at that moment that I felt unsettled, some sense of fear set in and stayed throughout the night,” Mr Sarkar said in his messages.
Mr. Sarkar said he was ultimately released after being told not to wear a red scarf or carry a dafli, given “the times that we live in”.
An Uber spokesperson said the company was “reviewing the matter”.
Dhairya GajaraMUMBAI, FEBRUARY 07, 2020 00:57 IST
UPDATED: FEBRUARY 07, 2020 11:04 IST
SHARE ARTICLE 2PRINTA A A
Speaking out: Bappadittya Sarkar at the Mumbai Bagh protest on Wednesday.
Speaking out: Bappadittya Sarkar at the Mumbai Bagh protest on Wednesday.
Driver reacts to passenger’s phone conversation, mentioning ‘protest’, in cab
Little would have Jaipur-based poet Bappadittya Sarkar imagined that his mention of the word ‘protest’ during a phone conversation while travelling in Mumbai could land him at a police station.
Mr. Sarkar was returning to Kurla from Juhu in an Uber cab on Wednesday, when he called a friend to discuss the ongoing protests in the country against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA). However, unknown to him, the driver was not only overhearing Mr. Sarkar’s side of the conversation but also reacting to it. And instead of taking the passenger to the destination, he drove the poet to the Santacruz police station.
In a series of messages, which were later shared on Twitter by activist Kavita Krishnan, Mr. Sarkar narrated his ordeal.
“I was at Silver Beach, Juhu, last night, and booked a cab around 10:30-10:45 to go back to Kurla, where I’m staying. As I got in the cab, I called a friend of mine and we were talking about protest cultures in different cities, what happened at Shaheen Bagh yesterday, people’s discomfort with ‘Laal Salaam’ and how we could make Jaipur’s protests more effective. Some 10-20 minutes into the conversation, my Uber driver stopped and asked if he could use the ATM. I agreed. Minutes later, he came back with two policemen and that’s when I realised he had gotten me to a police station,” Mr. Sarkar tweeted.
Questioned by police
He went on to recall how the policemen started quizzing him, and that he had to explain that he was carrying a dafli (a hand drum) because he was at the Mumbai Bagh protest earlier in the day.
At this point, the driver allegedly said, “Sir aap isko andar lo, ye desh jalane ki baat kar raha hai, bol raha hai main communist hoon, hum Mumbai mein Shaheen Bagh bana deinge, mere pass poori recording hai. (Sir, please put him behind the bars. He was talking about setting fire to the country, saying he is a communist and talking about making a Shaheen Bagh in Mumbai. I have the entire recording).”
Mr Sarkar told the policemen to listen to the recording and arrest him if they find him saying he would will burn the or anything that is inciting or can be perceived as anti-national. He also asked the Uber driver what he had taken offence to.
“He responded ‘Tum desh barbaad kardoge aur hum dekhtye raheinge? Main kahin aur le jaa sakta tha tujhe, shukr mana police station laaya hun.’ (Will we just stand by and watch while you destroy the country? I could have taken you anywhere. Be thankful I only brought you to the police station) It was at that moment that I felt unsettled, some sense of fear set in and stayed throughout the night,” Mr Sarkar said in his messages.
Mr. Sarkar said he was ultimately released after being told not to wear a red scarf or carry a dafli, given “the times that we live in”.
An Uber spokesperson said the company was “reviewing the matter”.
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