Rickshaw drivers charge about Rs50-Rs100 a month to place an advertising ‘flex’ – a flexible plastic sheet – on the back of their rickshaws.
The Jamaatud Dawa, the outlawed group said to be behind the November 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai, is currently running an advertising campaign on such rickshaws against closer ties with India.
‘Bharat say rishta kya, Nafrat ka goli ka’ (What is our relationship with India? Of hate, of bullets) reads the JuD’s advert. Another variation reads ‘Bharat say rishta kya, Nafrat ka intikam ka’, under a picture of charred corpses from the burning of the Samjhota Express train in India in which 64 people were killed, mostly Pakistanis.
“It is a horrible image,” said Shaista Kanwal, who works at a private office near Kalma Chowk and regularly travels on rickshaws. “Such images are banned on television so why are they allowed on the back of rickshaws in public places? It must have a horrible effect on children.”
The products and services advertised on the back of rickshaws range from a herbal concoction offering a cure for impotence, to whitening creams, rehabilitation centres and fortune tellers.
Shahzad Ahmad advertises his electronics shop in Abid Market on several rickshaws, paying each Rs100 a month. “We do checks to make sure they are carrying the advertisements,” he said. “We have got a good response from customers. Rickshaws are far less expensive and more effective than banners and wall chalking.”
Mushtaq said he advertised a mehfil-i-naat and his rickshaw mechanic on the back of his vehicle for free for several years, but now he was getting Rs50 a month advertising a fish restaurant. “It’s not just the money,” he said. “The back of my rickshaw was torn and customers used to complain about the draught. Now they are protected by the advertising flex.”
Dr Mugheesuddin Sheikh, dean of the Department of Mass Communication and Management Studies at Superior University, said that the back of rickshaws were a kind of “indigenous media” that served a market.
“When there is a need for something, people find ways to fulfil this need. This is an era of fast track communication and rickshaws, through their mobility, communicate commercial or non-commercial messages to a group of people effectively,” he said.
Dr Sheikh said that it was important to regulate this medium to erase hate messages and inappropriate images.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 5th, 2011.
COMMENTS (20)
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it again proves that tribune is working to destablize Pakistan by promoting hate against organisations working for welfare of Pakistan.
these kind of ads are disgusting and are a living proof of our nation's mentality.
@Usman: Sir, you forgot that we are sponsored by Mossad and trained by CIA. How can you feel no shame? Seriously, are you going to live in denial forever? Sometimes, I pity on my such countrymen who are always mislead!
Quickest way to spot an Indian troll, look for words like 'bite the hand that feeds', 'strategic assets', 'what goes around...', 'sow what you reap' and related rants.
The writer is over reacting such a article was not worth of publishing. Go and see the kind of hate media is spreading in America and India against Pakistan and Islam.
You are practically trying to destabilize Pakistan and hurt it with the support of world most notorious terrorist countries Israel and America.@Ash:
When I see all these bigoted, self-proclaimed saviours of Islam and Pakistan maulvis I think to myself maybe all this suffering and Allah's 'azaab' that is upon is perfectly justified. We deserve to live through hell for all that we tolerate in this country.
I saw such rickshaw yesterday. It had graphic pictures of burnt bodies and really hateful propaganda. No wonder we are termed the global hub of terrorism
Is there any Interior Ministry in Pakistan?
@Naan Haleem: The headline is misleading and kind of over-alarming when compared with the text.
Did you even read the verbatim description of the ads? The headline is spot-on accurate.
Pakistani rickshaws look out of date compared to the present Indian ones...With India being conferred MFN status, it would be good if Pakistan import latest Bajaj Rickshaws. It would also serve as a slap on JuD' s face.
ET has some vested anti Pakistan interests in its news posts. I live in Lahore and 99.9 Rikshaws are having commercial advertisements. I hardly seen any Anti-Pakistan slogan on any Riksha. Shame on Et for such false cheap reporting.
I am in Lahore for 6 days, and each day I see these rickshaw. Which clearly proves that this nation is always mislead and brainwashed for some groups' interest.
Good to see you wrote this post.
JuD is a social welfare organization, no one has proofs of its involvement in any terrorist activity. Its just foreign media which is exploiting JuD. The reason is, beard men are serving far better than NGOs here :)
So we should stifle the freedom of expression for the sake of political correctness now, and that too to appease a minority of Pakistanis, i.e. the "open minded" elite?
Please, we need to spread love and hatred. JuD should/must be exterminated from our country. It is a terrorist organization, please don't support them by giving them alms as charity. They will bite the very hand which is feeding them, just like our strategic assets in Afghanistan.
you spit upwards , and it falls on your face. We in pakistan hate everyone from the day we are born... in result, today we are internationally outcasted and internally our society, economy and values have crippled to a no return point of doom.
I can tell you one thing, you'll never find such hate-mongering ads on any vehicle in India, especially 3 wheelers and rickshaws. Just goes to show the ongoing hateful mentality of Pakistanis. Sure the Samjhauta incident happened, but then so did the attacks on the Taj Hotel in Mumbai 3 years ago by Paki terrorists. You dont see vehicles spreading hateful messages against Pakistan in India, do you? Thats because Indians are too busy succeeding rather than bathing in self pity and spurning vile messages. So much for Islam being a religion of peace, eh? Looks like the Hindus have got it right with the message of peace. Learn something from them.
The headline is misleading and kind of over-alarming when compared with the text.