Up in arms: Protesting rickshaw drivers besiege DCO’s office

Union vows to continue protest campaign till ban is rescinded

FAISALABAD:

Scores of protesting motorcycle rickshaw drivers on Thursday besieged the office of the DCO to register their outrage over the recent decision to ban Qingqis in the city.

The demonstrators also blocked the University Road for all kinds of vehicular traffic. Naveed Ahmad, one of the protestors, said the service only facilitated citizens wanting to commute at affordable rates. He alleged that district authorities had banned motorcycle rickshaws to only please a coterie of auto rickshaw dealers. Ahmed said district authorities had deprived motorcycle rickshaw drivers of their livelihoods in a single stroke. He said this was akin to telling them and their dependants to commit suicide. “Motorcycle rickshaw drivers have voted for the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) time and again. We did not know that this ban will befall us after the party ascended to power,” Ahmed said.

Another demonstrator Ghulam Abbas said district authorities were living in a fool’s paradise if they thought the rise in road accidents and traffic jams could be blamed on the proliferation of motorcycle rickshaws. He said this was due to the recruitment of incompetent traffic police officials who were unable to ensure smooth flow of traffic. Abbas said encroachments on roads in urban areas were another reason for traffic jams and road accidents. Instead of taking action against those responsible in this regard, the district authorities found it convenient to ban motorcycle rickshaws instead, he said.

“If motorcycle rickshaws are the sole reason behind traffic jams and road accidents then this phenomenon should not be just peculiar to urban areas. Why is this not replicated across roads in rural areas that are much narrower than their urban counterparts?” Naseer Akram, another protestor, said.

Pasban Rickshaw Union president Mian Ejaz said over 15,000 motorcycle rickshaws plied daily across roads in the city. He said this was a source of livelihood of over 45,000 families. A source that had been compromised by the decision of the district government to ban Qingqis, Ejaz said.

He said traffic police personnel had also been imposing heavy fines on motorcycle rickshaw drivers. Ejaz said this had fostered great resentment among their ranks. He said their protest campaign would continue till the ban was rescinded.

Any public functionary was yet to make their way to the spot to placate the protesters till the filing of this report.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 5^th, 2016.