'Depriving people of livelihood will push them to crime'

Depriving people of livelihood will push them to crime, said All Pakistan Qingqi Rickshaw Welfare Association President Haji Iftikhar.

Ban on multi-seater rickshaws on 20 roads in the city is akin to pushing thousands of people into starvation, said Iftikhar addressing a press conference flanked by the general secretary of the association Haji Aamir at Karachi Press Club on Monday.

The president and general secretary of the association demanded that the notification banning Qingqi rickshaws on 20 roads of Karachi must be withdrawn. Otherwise, they said that sit-in protests will be held across the city.

They said that traffic police are issuing fines even on roads where the ban does not apply. They also mentioned that the notification issued by Commissioner Karachi imposing the ban has been challenged in court.

The city administration is pushing the hardworking Qingqi rickshaw drivers and owners towards agitation, they said, and asked will it take a sit-in and roadblock across the city to make the government hear our views against ban on Qingqi rickshaws.

Iftikhar and Aamir said that the Commissioner Karachi has imposed a ban on Qingqi rickshaws on 20 roads in the city. The ban has further increased the hardships for Qingqi rickshaw drivers amid rising inflation. They said that protests have been held before as well, but no one paid attention to their complaints or contacted them. They also mentioned that they had written multiple letters to commissioner and relevant departments regarding the issue, but received no response.

They said that the situation has become so dire that Qingqi rickshaw drivers are now facing starvation at home. The drivers are being subjected to mistreatment by the traffic police, issuing fines even on roads where the ban is not in effect, causing severe distress among the drivers. The association has challenged the Commissioner Karachi's notification, and court hearing is still pending.