Alertness of cab driver important, but judging people by their clothes isn’t right: Bappadittya Sarkar

Bappadittya Sarkar, the 23-year-old poet from Jaipur who was allegedly ‘harassed’ by the driver of an app-based car on Wednesday night, said that drivers must remain

Bappadittya Sarkar, the 23-year-old poet from Jaipur who was allegedly ‘harassed’ by the driver of an app-based car on Wednesday night, said that drivers must remain alert, but it is inappropriate to judge people by their clothes.

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“The alertness of the cab driver is very important. But to judge people by their dress or the things the passenger is carrying is not a good sign,” he said, while speaking to HT on Friday. Sarkar who was invited for an event in south Mumbai said he had a ‘bad’ experience in the city.

“I love the beach, so I decided to go to Juhu and spend some time there. Around 10.30pm, I booked a cab to Kurla where I was staying. After the cab arrived, I called a friend and was speaking to him,” said Sarkar.

Referring to the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protests, he said, “I was just talking to my friend about the current scenario in the country, for instance about what is happening at Shaheen Bagh in Delhi, and how could we could make the protest in Jaipur more effective. After a while, the driver stopped the cab and asked me if he can withdraw money from an ATM. I was okay with it. But he returned with two police officers who asked me to come with them to the police station.”

Around 11.15pm, the police began questioning the poet. “I messaged Rahul Chowdhary, the district secretary of Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation (CPI (ML)) Jaipur, and a few other friends. Around 1.15am, S Gohil, the state secretary of CPI-ML reached the police station, after which the police let me go around 1.30am,” he said.

According to Sarkar, he was questioned by four-five police personnel were in uniform, while the remaining were in civil clothes. “I respect the police and they were very polite to me. But I was uncomfortable with their questions. The asked me unnecessary questions such as ‘why you are carrying a dafli (tambourine), what is your father’s salary, what organisations are you a part of, what are the names of Communist-ruled states in world, who is funding the protest, which party’s ideology do you follow and why’. I gave them my details and told them that I am from Jaipur, and was carrying the dafli because I was sloganeering at Mumbai Bagh in the afternoon,” Sarkar said.

While he was at the police station, the cab driver intervened and urged the police to arrest Sarkar, the poet alleged.

“He said, ‘Sir aap isko andar lo, ye desh jalane ki baat kar raha hai. Bol raha hai Communist hai, Mumbai mein Shaheen Bagh bana denge, mere paas poori recording hai (Sir, you arrest him, he was talking about burning the country and that he is a Communist. I have the entire recording of him saying that they want to make Mumbai another Shaheen Bagh)’.”

According to Sarkar, the driver also threatened him. “I told the police to listen to the recording and arrest me if they find me saying these things. Later, I turned to the driver and asked him, what made him so upset to get me to the police station, to which he threatened and said, ‘Be thankful that I took you to the police, I could have taken you elsewhere.’ But despite him saying this, the police didn’t react,” said Sarkar.

He also claimed that the police officers took his phone and wrote down the numbers of his friends. “I had sent some messages to my friends along with some locations. The police went through my WhatsApp chats and asked me who my favourite poets were and asked me to recite the poems I have composed,” said Bappadittya.

Paramjitsingh Dahiya, deputy commissioner of police (DCP) zone- 9 said, “The driver had brought him to the police station. Both the men were verified and allowed to go.”

Despite several attempts, the driver of the cab was not available for response.

An Uber spokesperson said, “As soon as the incident was brought to our attention, we took it up on a priority basis. We are in touch with both the rider and the driver, and are reviewing the matter.”