Women in Pakistan need to be encouraged by their family members to ride motorcycles
KARACHI: Saudi Arabia seems to be in the news as many Saudi women try to break the shackles imposed on them by a rigid society and take to the wheels of a car to protest an absurd ban on their driving.
Here in Pakistan, there is no ban at all as such but what is found is a general reluctance, or should one say a complete absence, of women driving motorbikes or cycles. Given that public transport is not very good and that women who do take the bus to work find it difficult to find adequate space, using a motorcycle becomes a realistic option. This will also allow women to be more mobile and less dependent on either public transport or others in their household to take them to work or other places such as the market or their child’s school.
The point is quite simple. It’s good because it allows women greater mobility and it’s relatively cheap. Also, when Pakistani women successfully drive cars and some even fly planes, why cannot they drive motorbikes? The answer, of course, has to do with the narrow-mindedness of our society and social barriers imposed on women. The fact is that most men — be they fathers, brothers or husbands — do not want to see their daughters, sisters or wives drive motorcycles.
In Bangladesh, which is a Muslim country, many women drive motorcycles and cycles and this has become so common that the practice is now seen as routine.
Similarly, next door in India, women and girls drive motorcycles and scooters, and this includes many Muslim women as well. Women in Pakistan need to be encouraged by their family members to do this.
Sqn-ldr (retd) S Ausaf Husain
Published in The Express Tribune, June 20th, 2011.
