Title - Coolie's clamor for badge goes unheard

VADODARA: His struggle reminds one of Deewar'sAmitabhBachhan who never parted with his badge numbered 786. For the last 28 years, Afzalmiyan Sheikh, coolie, has been fighting hard to get back his precious badge that was taken away by the railway authorities.Since the time his badge was taken away by railway officials in 1985, he has been running from pillar to post and spending hours at the railway headquarters in Pratapnagar, only to return empty-handed. "They accused me of making money by cornering seats in trains and took away my badge. There was no witness, no proper investigation and no written order. I lost my livelihood in a single stroke," Sheikh told TOI.His battle began soon after as he began meeting senior railway officials and urging them to return his badge back. "All that I wanted was my badge so that I could return to railway station and join work. But my representations and requests fell on deaf years. In fact, over last few years some railway employees began turning me away rudely and threatened to call police," Sheikh added.

"I have a wife and a son who has just starting earning. I am still willing to work as we need money badly. I wrote to former union minister of state for railways, Naransinh Rathwa urged the railway authorities to reinstate my badge. But nothing happened," Sheikh recalled. He is now planning to approach the court and file a writ petition.

"Senior railway officials had said that they would act on his case but the matter is being delayed. We will now file a writ petition in Gujarat high court to help Sheikh get back his badge. He has the right to live with dignity and he is still ready to work as coolie," said Sheikh's lawyer, Dharmendra Rajput.

Railway division railway manager (DRM), Vadodara division, Neeraj Kumar Shukla said that he was not aware of the issue. Senior DCM Pradeep Banerjee. Banerjee was not available for comments.