Firm resolve: Traders demand lifting ban on pillion-riding

Say Section 144 has been misused by police officers, affected businesses

DI KHAN: Traders have decided to ask the government to lift the ban on pillion-riding in DI Khan. The ban has been under Section 144 of Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPc) after four people were targeted on sectarian grounds.

The request was made by representatives of Anjuman-e-Tajran during a meeting held in DI Khan on Thursday. During the moot, traders unanimously agreed to urge the government to lift the ban on pillion-riding.

Jamil Khan, who chaired the meeting, told journalists traders and shopkeepers are facing a series of challenges due to the imposition of Section 144.

“Businesses are suffering and time and money is being wasted,” he added.

Apart from traders, the public was also negatively impacted by the ban on pillion-riding. The ban has provided police officers with a pretext to flag down motorbikes and impose exorbitant fines on passengers.



According to locals, police officials have misused the law and viewed it as a means of earning extra income.

Abdul Quddus Awan, Amjid Karim, Haji Ahmed Din, Muhammad Batta, Abdul Rehman, Muhammad Farooq, Haji Shafiq and Muhammad Nadeem Lala participated in the moot.

Sectarian grounds

On May 5, four people – two lawyers and two teachers – were killed in separate incidents in DI Khan on sectarian grounds.

The first incident took place within the jurisdiction of Muryalli police station. Unidentified men on motorbikes opened fire on Mukhtar Hussain and Akhtar Hussain. Both men were killed on the spot.

Separately, unidentified men opened fire on senior lawyer Advocate Atif Zaidi and Advocate Ali Murtajiz Zaidi on Grid Station Road and managed to flee the site.

The killings sparked a wave of protests that lasted
several days.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 20^th, 2016.