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FRIDAY, MAY 09, 2025
Kamlapur’s coolies chug along as times speed up around them

Panorama

Kamrun Naher
30 October, 2024, 07:45 pm
Last modified: 30 October, 2024, 07:53 pm

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Kamlapur’s coolies chug along as times speed up around them

As parcels dry up and passengers switch to trolley bags, the 249 railway labourers at the Kamalapur Railway Station reminisce of better times

Kamrun Naher
30 October, 2024, 07:45 pm
Last modified: 30 October, 2024, 07:53 pm
During Eid, Puja and other holiday seasons, the coolies earn more as more people travel by trains. Photo: Rajib Dhar
During Eid, Puja and other holiday seasons, the coolies earn more as more people travel by trains. Photo: Rajib Dhar

Md Faruk was 12 years old when he fled from his home in Noakhali's Maijdee. 

One afternoon, he hopped on a train at the Maijdee Railway Station and headed towards Dhaka. When he reached the capital, it was dark. 

That night, he slept on one of the platforms of Kamalapur Railway Station. He didn't have anything to eat or drink. 

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"I still remember the day my father beat me up because I didn't want to go to school. So I fled, thinking I would never go back", Faruk said. 

But he did go back, after 10 years, when he was 22, with gifts and clothes for everyone in the family. 

"My mother cried when she saw me. Everyone was so happy", Faruk said smiling. 

It has been 27 years since that incident and Faruk, now a 39-year-old inward labour supervisor, cannot think of leaving the station ever. 

"After all these years, I realise that my father wanted the best for me. Maybe I could have been successful if I had studied and gone to school. But this station is now my home, and the people here are my peers. I cannot think of leaving this place," he told us. 

Like Md Faruk, there are 249 railway labourers or coolies at the Kamalapur Railway Station and most have similar stories. 

Some fled their homes to avoid attending schools or madrasas, while some followed their fathers or elder brothers.

"Earlier, luggage was made of leather and steel trunks. Nowadays, most luggage have wheels attached to them. So, the passengers don't need us to carry them"

Md Ismail, a daily passenger coolie

Railway coolies are divided into three sections- those working at the inward section, those working at the parcel section, and the regular down train passenger coolies. 

The most experienced ones work at the inward and parcel sections while the others work for the down train passengers. 

The parcel section sends goods from Dhaka to all over Bangladesh while the inward section handles the parcels sent to Dhaka from other districts of the country. 

According to the parcel department manager Md Ashraful Islam, currently, 40 coolies are working in the parcel section and the inward section has 15. 

The daily passenger coolies carry the passengers' luggage while the parcel and inward section coolies load and unload heavy packages from freight trains. 

"Nowadays, mostly furniture pieces are sent through the railway parcel section, which is not a lot. The inward section has even fewer deliveries. There was a time when an inward coolie earned Tk 450-500 a day but these days, it has dropped to Tk200 or less," said Md Mobarok, the coolie leader at Kamalapur. 

However, during Eid, Puja and other holiday seasons, the coolies earn more as more people travel by trains. 

Also during summer, when passengers carry mangoes, lychees and other seasonal fruits, and during admission seasons when students travel to Dhaka to sit for entrance exams, their earnings increase.  

"Earlier, luggage was made of leather and steel trunks. Nowadays, most luggage have wheels attached to them. So, the passengers don't need us to carry them," said Md Ismail, a daily passenger coolie. 

Most of the coolies and laboureres stay inside the station at night. There is a canteen at platform no 8, where they get a decent meal for Tk60. The meal consists of rice, lentils, vegetables and a piece of fish.  

From a young boy to a labour leader 

When Md Mobarak was only four years old, his father was murdered during the Liberation War of 1971. 

His older brother worked as a daily labourer in Dhaka. With no one to look after him, Mobarok came to Dhaka in 1978 and started working at the Kamalapur Railway Station. 

"The police used to beat us sometimes when we approached passengers for money. I can show you black patches from those batons even today", Mobarok said. 

For 46 years, Mobarok never tried to do anything else or go somewhere else. This station is where he stayed. 

But in all these years, many things changed at the station, including the number of platforms. Earlier, there used to be only the shohortoli (suburb) platform. But with time, more platforms were built and trees were cut down to make space for them. 

"However, the inward and parcel godowns are still the same. Their walls, floors are still there, without any change. Just a while ago, the godowns were packed with packages and parcels. Now they are almost empty with a few packages left here and there," Mobarok said.

"We had to learn the value of a customer just by looking at them - whether s/he will give us bakshish (tip) or not. And there was a competition among us - we ran as fast as we could to catch the passengers and convince them so we could carry their luggage. That is how we survived", he said. 

Although some coolies left the station over the years, Mobarok didn't. The station masters know him as well as everyone around the station. 

"Although I am 50 something years old, I look 70. I already had a heart surgery. Carrying heavy packages takes away your strength, your youth. But everyone knows me here and the station masters also know me. So, they all decided to make me the coolie leader or sardar," he said. 

How the daily wage is distributed

The coolies are paid according to the weight of the packages and luggage. Kamalapur Railway Station has a chart for the coolie charge. 

According to the chart, the charge for luggage under 28 kg starts at Tk15. It can rise up to Tk35 with maximum 56 kg luggage.

"They do not follow the chart. Sometimes the coolies demand bakshish or tips up to Tk100. It's better to take a trolley that the railway offers for Tk30 and carry your own luggage", said Md Rayhan, one of the passengers. 

However, coolie sardar Mobarok has a different version of the event. "Sometimes, the passengers are happy to pay a bit more to the poor coolies. In fact, when VIPs and railway officers travel, they are happy to tip us extra," he said. 

At the inward and parcel sections, a coolie gets Tk 20 to 30 per heavy package. At the end of the day, their wages are calculated and the total amount is then distributed among the 55 labourers. 

"As their sardar, I get two bhagas (parts) while the others get one bhaga," Mobarok said. 

The daily passenger coolies do not have to share their income among themselves, although a certain portion of it goes to the sardar.

Features / Top News

Coolie / station / Railway

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