Leaders of Sikh community call on PM, ask for reversal of Delhi Police order
Leaders of Sikh community call on PM, ask for reversal of Delhi Police order
It seems that Delhi Traffic police's efforts to make women two-wheeler-drivers and pillion riders wear helmets might go down the drain. 
As the word spread that Delhi government had asked the Traffic Police to reverse an earlier order exempting women from wearing helmets while riding two-wheelers, members of Sikh community came out strongly against the proposal. Leaders of the community called on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and gave him a memorandum that called for not implementing the order as it was against the tenants of their religion.
"We won't allow this as it goes against our religion. Sikh men are not allowed to wear anything over their turbans while Sikh women are supposed to keep their heads covered, so helmets do not go with our religious beliefs. Similar proposals in other countries had met with strong protests and governments of the US and Britain had to finally accept the recommendations of our community," said Paramjit Singh Pamma, who met the Prime Minister along with other leaders of National Akali Dal, Sikh Welfare Society and Shri Guru Nanak Sathsang Sabha of Chennai.
The government had on January 12, decided to enforce the helmet law more stringently for bikers and pillion riders, irrespective of their gender. "We have asked the traffic department to make it mandatory for women driving two-wheelers and also those riding the pillion to wear helmets," Delhi chief secretary Rakesh Mehta had said.
u00a0Delhi is the only city in the country that has exempted women driving two-wheelers or riding as pillion from wearing helmets since 1999.u00a0 According to the traffic police, the exemption was allowed following the protests by the Sikh community in the Capital.
According to the police, last year 700 people had died in Delhi two-wheeler related accidents. Most of them were not wearing helmets.
Heads up
Facts about helmet according to Delhi Traffic Police:
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* It should not impair with hearing
* It should be light weight
* It should not cause fatigue u00a0which causes crashes
*u00a0It should not cause skinu00a0diseases
| No excuse here |
| Riding bikes in company of Bollywood actors Gul Panag and Purab Kohli proved costly for some youth as they were fined by police for breaking traffic laws.u00a0 The actors were in the Capital last month for a promotional event of Bollywood flick Turning 30 and had driven around the Delhi University campus on the bikes without helmets. While Gul Panag and other girls got away as traffic laws in Delhi exempt women from wearing helmets, the guys were fined.Police however fined Puja Balhara, a resident of Neb Sarai for driving without a licence. An international judo athlete, Puja was driving a Bullet motorcycle and even had a pillion rider. "She was fined Rs 1,600 for driving without licence and allowing a pillion rider without helmet," said Satyendra Garg, Joint CP Traffic. |
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