CALANGUTE: Tension prevailed in Calangute after locals from Candolim and Calangute, involved in taxi business, marched to the Calangute police station demanding immediate arrest of an Ola cab driver, who allegedly assaulted a local driver at Candolim early Tuesday morning.
According to the locals from Candolim, the taxi driver Antaf Kambli was in the process of ferrying Ola cab drivers from a hotel at Candolim when he noticed that one of them cab had kept his legs on the dash board of the car. Kambli politely asked him to sit properly, which angered the other Ola cab drivers and they allegedly behaved in a rude manner and assaulted him.
Locals informed that another Goan driver nearby tried to rush to Kambli’s rescue, but was allegedly overpowered by the Ola cab drivers. Kambli sustained minor bruises near his ear and fingers. He was rushed for medical examination at the Primary Health Centre, Candolim, and was asked to do an X-ray to confirm if there were any injuries to his fingers. A complaint was lodged with the Calangute police in the early hours of
Tuesday.
The locals have now questioned why outsiders are being made the beneficiaries of the State’s tourism.
Speaking to Herald, Ruskin Mascarenhas, social activist from Candolim, said: “The Ola cab drivers, who are attending a conference or meet, assaulted our Goan taxi driver for no reason.”
“It looks like it was a deliberate incident to portray the Goan taxi services as bad so that theirs, Ola cab, could make a backdoor entry into Goa like the private Goa Women’s Taxi Services. We Goans will not tolerate the wrongdoings against our own Goans and we need to unite and fight against the outsiders who want to set their foot on Goan soil and make hay at our behest,” stated Mascarenhas.
“We have been fooled for long in the name of development and jobs, but the reality is just the opposite. Outsiders are provided jobs, self-employment, etc., while we Goans have to fight and slog for our rights in our State. Why should non-Goans be major beneficiaries of our own tourism? We have every right to fight and drive them away from Goa,” Mascarenhas said.
Kambli, the taxi driver, said: “The Ola cab drivers even went to the extent of saying ‘Goa walon ka bahut hua…. bahoot loot ho rahi hai….ham tumko sika denge.’”
