Days after a premium restaurant in South Kolkata allegedly denied entry to a woman as she was accompanied by a taxi driver who was not “properly dressed,” two major taxi unions have declared that they will not take passengers to or from the restaurant.
Staging a demonstration in front of the restaurant, Mocambo, here on Sunday, the Kolkata Taxi Operators’ Union (KTOU) and the Taxi Operators’ Coordination Committee (TOCC) said taxi drivers would continue to boycott the restaurant until the management issued a written apology to taxi driver Manish Tiwari.
KTOU and TOCC are affiliated to the All India Trade Union Congress, the labour wing of the Communist Party of India.
The restaurant authorities refused to speak to the media. Founded in 1956, Mocambo is one of the oldest and upmarket restaurants located in the city’s Park Street area.
Last Friday, in her social media post, a woman accused Mocambo of being a “racist restaurant.”
The staff did not allow her driver, Mr. Tiwari, to accompany her for dinner as he was not “properly dressed,” she alleged. She also alleged that the staff at the restaurant falsely claimed that Mr. Tiwari was drunk.
Addressing the protesters, Nawal Kishor Shrivastav, an official of both the unions, said the taxi drivers would continue to boycott Mocambo until the hotel issued a written apology.
Police deployed
“We will request people through social media to boycott the restaurant. If needed, we will cover all the walls near the restaurant with posters to boycott Mocambo,” he said. The unions have around 17,000 members. Police personnel were deployed near the restaurant during the protest.
Earlier, protests were held against the restaurant by the State Congress unit and members of the civil society groups.
