Indians Cycle, Pull Vehicles With Ropes, and Have Heads Tonsured to Protest Skyrocketing Fuel Prices

Indians are finding unique ways to protest against steadily climbing fuel prices in the country. In the city of Kochi, members of the Kerala Hotel and Restaurants Association sat in front of the office of the Indian Oil Corporation, an integrated oil company, and had their heads tonsured.

The members, mostly owners of hotels and restaurants, highlighted their plight of increasing costs of running their businesses at a time when their industry has already been hit by the pandemic. 

​With four states and one union territory in the country heading for polls in the next two months, political leaders from various opposition parties are riding cycles to draw attention to their cause and protest against rising fuel prices.

In the state of Punjab where the Congress Party is in power, legislators from the opposition Aam Aadmi Party held a cycle rally against the government and rode to the state assembly to attend the state's budget session on Monday. 

​Speaking to Sputnik, the leader of the opposition in the Punjab legislative assembly, Harpal Singh Cheema, said that the pandemic has already led to financial problems for people and now the inreasing rates of fuel have made it difficult for the common man to make ends meet. 

In Mumbai, India's financial capital, leaders of the opposition Congress Party rode to the state assembly on bicycles, holding placards, and chanting slogans demanding fuel prices be lowered. 

Last week, Mamata Banerjee, chief of West Bengal, tried to ride an e-vehicle to show her protest. While she underwent rigourous training to drive the two wheeler, she rode a pillion instead.

​The leader of the opposition in the state of Bihar also rode a cycle to express his angst against rising rates.

​Shashi Tharoor, a senior Congress Party leader symbolically pulled an auto-rickshaw, a three-wheeled vehicle, in the capital of Kerala to protest against fuel price hikes.