Images: The Railways are India's favourite protest tool
Indian railways and protests share a long history. Be it protests against Centre’s excessive police action, or rising fuel rates—political parties have most of the time taken their protests to the railways, by blocking railway tracks, perhaps underscoring the importance of the Indian railways to everyday life. Here are some images of rail protests in India.
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21st July 1952: Indian demonstrators hold up a train outside Calcutta in protest against excessive police action during a general strike. Getty Images
Trade union activists stop trains in central Bombay during a 24 hours strike in Maharashtra 25 April 2001. The strike, affecting the entire industrial heartland of the state of which Bombay is the capital, was enforced by a rare alliance of trade unions and parties across the political spectrum to protest against the federal government's liberal reformist economic policies. AFP
Punjabi rice farmers block trains at Chandigarh's railway station 29 September 2002, during a protest. The farmers demanded more subventions from the government. AFP
A porter relaxes at a train station as commuters are stranded during Congress party supporters' 12-hour strike in Kolkata on 17 July, 2009. Normal life was disrupted across West Bengal with rail and road traffic severely affected as a 12-hour strike was called in protest against an alleged attack by Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI-M) supporters on Congress party state legislative members (MLAs) in Mangalkot in Burdwan district.AFP
Stranded travellers rest on a platform at the NJP railway station during a strike in Siliguri on 5 July, 2010. An opposition-led strike over fuel price rises disrupted life across the country triggering transport mayhem and sporadic violence in major cities where schools and businesses closed down. AFP
Shiv Sena party workers shout slogans as they stop local trains during a nationwide strike in protest of fuel price hikes in Mumbai on 5 July, 2010. The strike was called by the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and leftist parties in a concerted show of strength against the Congress-led government's reform programme. AFP
Stranded commuters are pictured at the Churchgate railway station in Mumbai on 20 July, 2012. The railway services on the western side of the city came to a near halt after a section of motormen went on strike -- just prior to evening rush hour traffic -- demanding better work conditions. AFP
Activists from various trade unions block the tracks during a two-day strike opposing the current UPA government’s economic policies at the railway station inAmritsar on 20 February, 2013. Millions of India's workers walked off their jobs in a two-day nationwide strike called by trade unions to protest at the "anti-labour" policies of the embattled government. AFP