The Pink Riders organized a bike rally aimed at inspiring and motivating other women to pursue freedom and own their public spaces. According to Dawn, The Pink Riders’ founder Piyam-i-Khurram said that she wants women to not be dependent on anyone for transportation.
“These women may be housewives, students, doctors, nurses or from any other profession. I didn’t want them to depend on anyone for transport,” Piyam told Dawn, adding that women comprised 52% of the population in Pakistan and women’s independence meant Pakistan’s independence.
Participant Rachel Javed said that taxi and rickshaw fares were getting unaffordable and were taking a toll on their pockets, therefore, such an initiative was extremely significant.
“Besides using up a major chunk of our salaries on transport, when we reached our places of work late due to the unpredictability of rickshaws and taxis, there would be an annoyed boss waiting for us too,” said Sana Yaqub, another participant in the rally.
Another ride, Rukhsar Basheer, said that there are women who have odd working hours e.g. nurses, women working in shopping malls and journalists and it is hard for them to find transportation late at night.
“It is to show everyone living in these areas that the women here can and the women here are not going to rely on anyone but themselves to reach their respective destinations,” she added.