In contrast to their hunter forebears, the itinerant narikurava community that has turned to hawking in parts of the city is largely known to keep the peace, leave alone the occasional brush with the law.
But, when a couple of beat policemen allegedly went on a spree on Tuesday of puncturing their entire stock of inflatable toys as part of an anti-hawking drive on the Beach Road, the narikuravas decided that enough was enough.
On Wednesday, a group of irate narikuravas marched to the office of the Director General of Police on Dumas Road, armed with sack-loads of punctured balloons and other inflatable toys, which they brandished in the air as evidence of “police excess.”
Seek compensationThe protesters demanded compensation and an assurance from the authorities that they would be permitted to engage in their trade in peace.
When they were stopped by a police barricade, the protesters dumped their damaged wares on the road and staged a sit-in in front of the DGP’s office. The narikuravas pointed the finger to two constables.
K. Shankar, one of the aggrieved narikuravas, said that after environment protection and animal welfare laws came into existence decades ago, the indigenous people were prohibited from engaging in their traditional hunting profession and many of them had turned to other forms of livelihood such as hawking.
He pointed out that narikuravas were long-time residents of Puducherry and had been eking out a modest livelihood selling balloons on the beach.
For the last few months, the police had put restrictions on hawking in the vicinity of the beach. “They want us to sell our wares only near the Gandhi Statue and to keep away from Beach Road,” he said.
“We procured the toys after availing of loans. How can we repay now?” lamented Sumathi.
Sixty-five-year-old Gurumbettah said: “Oosimani and pasimani vitha kalam eppovo pochhu [the days of selling of needleworks and beadworks are bygones]. We have to earn our livelihood only by selling toys and balloons on the beach. One would easily get between Rs.500 and Rs.800 a day through this. Now, the police are continuously harassing us. How can we survive?”
After a nearly hour-long blockade, the groups finally dispersed after the police assured them of a fair compensation for the damaged toys.
R. Saravanan, president of the Puducherry unit of the Democratic Youth Federation of India, says that the police action militates against the provisions of the National Policy on Urban Street Vendors 2009, which prohibits them from taking action against such vendors under the Police Act. “It is also contrary to Article 21 of the Constitution.”
