Pakistan: Sikh community exempted from wearing helmets in Peshawar

The exemption, however, applies only to those members of the minority community who wear turbans while riding motorcycles.

Photo: Representational/ AFP

New Delhi: Peshawar police has exempted Sikh community from wearing helmets while riding motorcycles in the city, Pakistani media reported on Thursday. As per a report in the Express Tribune, the police allowed the exemption after the issue was raised in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assembly by a member of the minority community. The exemption, however, applies only to those members of the minority community who are wearing turbans while riding motorcycles. Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa is an abode to as many as 60,000 Sikhs including the 15,000 residing in Peshawar. Police in Lahore have and Peshawar have launched a crackdown on the motorcyclists who do not wear helmets. By the end of September, the City Traffic Police Lahore (CTPL) had issued over 58,066 tickets to motorcyclists riding without helmets in the provincial capital. After the CTPL launched the campaign, the prices of helmets rose. A helmet that was being sold between Rs 400 and Rs 500 jumped up to between Rs 1,000 and Rs 1,500, news agency PTI reported. The SSP of traffic in Peshawar Kashif Zulfiqar assured full cooperation with minority communities.