Fighting Back: NGO challenges pillion riding ban

The petitioner refuted police’s argument that a ban on pillion riding helps cut crime as criminals used fast cars.

KARACHI:

The ban on pillion riding is a violation of basic rights as it provides people a cheap way to travel and thus should be ended without any delay, argued a petition filed in the Sindh High Court.

Rana Faizul Hasan of the United Human Rights Commission, Pakistan (not to be confused with the HRCP) filed the petition. He maintained that poor and middle class people in Karachi would have a hard time, physically and financially, under the ban as it forces them to take overcrowded buses and pay jacked-up fares.

The petitioner refuted the police’s argument that the ban helps cut crime. He argued that in the past it hasn’t proven effective and the motorcycle is not the preferred mode of transport for terrorists and dacoits who now use fast cars and luxury vehicles while committing crimes such as bank robberies. He asked the court to declare the ban in violation of Article 8 of the constitution. He also brought up the fact that the ban was for Karachi alone, which he argued was discriminatory. The petition is likely to be heard on Monday, November 28.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 27^th, 2011.