Pillion riding: Violation of ban lands 88 in prison so far

All the arrests were made on Monday, after the ban was extended for the third time.

KARACHI: Law enforcement agencies have so far apprehended around 88 people for violating the ban on pillion riding in the city on Monday. Meanwhile, the provincial government announced to extend the ban for a second time until Muharram 14 on Sunday night.

Those detained by the law enforcers were booked under Section 188 of the Pakistan Penal Code. The majority of the arrests were made in District South with 62 arrests, followed by Districts West and Central with 22 arrests while only four were arrested from District East and Malir.

Most of the arrested complained that they were not aware of the ban but had been sent behind bars. “We had no idea that the ban had been extended,” said Shafqat Ali, who was arrested along with his cousin by the District Central police. “The government must inform us at least a day before extending the ban. I was arrested a few moments after the announcement for the extension was made,” he claimed. The citizens arrested for the violations were released on bail by judicial magistrates.



On Sunday night, authorities extended the ban for another two days in Karachi. Earlier, the ban had been imposed for just Muharram 9 and 10, but had later been extended till Muharram 12 through a notification issued on late Friday night.

According to the provincial government, this time, the ban has also been extended for two more days till Muharram 14 on the request of the Karachi police. Interestingly, all of the arrests were made on the fifth day of the ban.

In the past, citizens have had to face the ban on pillion riding for lengthy periods of time but the government seems resolute that this will not be the case this time around. There are around 1.2 million motorcycles in the city. The advisor to home ministry, Sharfuddin Memon, said that the government will likely lift the ban on Muharram 14. “We do not want to impose a ban on pillion riding because it affects thousands of motorcyclists,” Memon told The Express Tribune. “We were compelled to extend the ban for two days due to the uncertain situation in the country. Hopefully, we will not have to extend it any further after Muharram 14.”

Published in The Express Tribune, November 19^th, 2013.