ISLAMABAD: Women of the twin cities of Rawalpindi Islamabad have started turning towards motorcycles as an affordable and speedy mode of mobility for routine works.
After the encouragement of Lahore Traffic Police for giving free of cost motorcycle training to women, initiative-oriented brave girls have shown courage to follow the trend here as well. Asma a college student riding a bike at F-6 sector with her mother at pillion seat said, “My mother is a widow and I am taking her to bank for some urgent work as it is not affordable to hire a cab all the time so I decided to start motorcycle driving”. She said that her brother’s motorcycles remained at home at day time as he went to his job and they left no other option to use public transport in this scorching summer.
She added that her brother was a little reluctant in start but later he realized that our female family members have to face fatigue at public transport and have to walk long to reach their exact destination so he himself trained her. “Now it’s easy to take my mother to hospital, bank, grocery stores, relatives homes etc. easily in this hot weather”. Her mother Rafia Begum stated that she was proud of her daughter as now she could manage her works without wasting time besides saving money as fuel consumption of motorcycles is very limited.
Another young girl of G-11 named Afshan who rides a scooty said that she is studying in Urdu university and it is hard to reach campus or came back so she bought scooty so she would not be dependent on anyone. “In start I face some awkward situations from family and also from university colleagues but now I am use to it”, she said. Society should understand that women are fulfilling a number of responsibilities so they should be given space of easy and affordable mobility. It is our need not a fashion, she added. “I met almost half a dozen girls who are riding motorbikes or scooties in twin cities and all belong to middle class families who cannot afford cabs or cars,” she said. She also said that if a lady drives a truck to fulfill her household needs, why women cannot move towards motor riding.
She requested the concerned authorities that a separate petrol refueling point should be reserved for women at every fuel station or priority should be given to them as some times she face very embarrassing situation there. The Public Relations Officer Motorway Police Javed stated that it is a good trend and also need of the hour and if women are interested then the department can give them training at their driving schools. Women wardens of Faisalabad have their own motorcycles so why not women of other cities should not come forward to make their mobility easy.
