WoW: Women On Wheels hit the road in Lahore
CM Shahbaz promises 1,000 pink scooters for working women, students at 50pc subsidised rates under WoW project.
LAHORE: About 150 women motorcyclists after completing training with the collaboration of Special Monitoring Unit on Law & Order and City Traffic Police participated in the Women on Wheels (WoW) rally in Lahore.
The rally, a move to encourage female bike riding, was also attended by Austrian Ambassador Brigitta Balaha, prominent lawyer and human rights activist Asma Jahangir.
Dawn Newspaper reported that the Punjab Chief Minister’s Special Monitoring Unit (SMU) on Law and Order and City Traffic Police had jointly trained the women at City Traffic Police Driving School in Thokar Niaz Baig.
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Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif announced that about 1,000 pink scooters would be given to working women and students at a 50 per cent subsidised rate under the WoW project.
The programme would be implemented from the International Women’s Day. The chief minister said that the project would focus on women under 40 to encourage the next generation to join the national development efforts. A traffic police spokesman said that more than 150 women had completed training at their driving school.
He said the training plan was designed to enable the women to acquire the riding skill in a few weeks.
Austrian Ambassador Brigitta Blaha and prominent lawyer Asma Jahangir also participated in the rally. Danish Ambassador Helen Neilson, American Consul General in Lahore Zachary Harkenrider, UN Women Country Representative Jamshed Qazi, prominent motorcyclist from Singapore Juvena Huang, Provincial Minister for Population Welfare Zakia Shahnawaz, Minister for Women Development Hameeda Waheeduddin and SMU’s Salman Sufi also attended the event.
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Comments (103) Closed
Jan 11, 2016 12:36am
Wow. Welcome back.
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Jan 11, 2016 12:42am
Well done !
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Jan 11, 2016 01:18am
Great work, Punjab is pioneer of these initiatives which would enable women to be more productive in their daily life.
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Jan 11, 2016 01:21am
That's excellent. We need to see more in other cities and small villages/towns. Give women more independence.
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Jan 11, 2016 01:33am
Loved it. #WOW.
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Jan 11, 2016 01:45am
Fantastic! Come on girls!
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Jan 11, 2016 01:46am
Way to go respected women of Pakistan! So proud of you ladies.
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Jan 11, 2016 01:56am
I'm so glad to see, my peoples are moving forward to make shine Pakistan, and establish , although its too late but we are on track now , we must be winner among the nations by speed of turtle,
God bless Pakistan n peoples
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Jan 11, 2016 02:10am
This is so cool!! You go girls, no one can stop you now.
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Jan 11, 2016 03:06am
Bold, courageous women! I hope this becomes the norm.
Men need to behave a lot better in Pakistan and treat women with respect. I hope the filth of harassment in our culture (which is tcompletely accepted and embraced no matter how strongly we feel about being "pious" people) doesn't deter these and other women to ride bikes around.
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Jan 11, 2016 03:16am
Finally, some good news from Pakistan. Keep it up girls.
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Jan 11, 2016 03:28am
Good initiative Keep it up.
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Jan 11, 2016 03:31am
cant understand waste of money on these cosmetic projects,if Noon so concerned about woman's rights,why not make sure women get speedy justice in cases of domestic violence or other tragedies rather than wasting money on gimmicks.new buses,motorbikes,laptops,motros will not compensate for reforms
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Jan 11, 2016 03:32am
Love it..............you go girls..........about time we saw equality on roads!
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Jan 11, 2016 03:32am
A new market for scooters not motorbikes is about to open and flourish in Lahore.
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Jan 11, 2016 03:43am
Well done guys well done,
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Jan 11, 2016 03:44am
Well done guys
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Jan 11, 2016 03:53am
Freedom from male domination, vroom vroom for women's rights.
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Jan 11, 2016 04:15am
I visited India in 2005 after 60 years. In Chandigarh I saw all the young girls students going to college or university on motor bikes or scooters with their dupatta flying over their shoulders. I had not seen such attraction in Pakistan.
Well done girls. God Bless.
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Jan 11, 2016 04:32am
great show and must be followed by other provinces, i would love to see this in KPK..
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Jan 11, 2016 04:32am
Best news out of Pakistan in a long time. It seems Pakistan is slowly but surely turning a corner and entering the 21st century. Amen.
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Jan 11, 2016 04:40am
I only hope that all these women are not unruly drivers as motor bike men drivers are.
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Jan 11, 2016 04:58am
Excellent!!
Go Girls
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Jan 11, 2016 05:28am
The old, tolerant Pakistan is gradually returning. Hopefully.
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Jan 11, 2016 05:38am
Wow! Whenever i see women in colors i love that. God has made colors for women and let them spread that for peace and joy of others.
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Jan 11, 2016 05:42am
Great initiative and need of the day! I hope it takes off successfully! All over in Asia, rich, poor, working class women ride bikes to do their work; only in Pakistan we have not encouraged such practice till now.
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Jan 11, 2016 06:12am
how nice to see woman and so many on motorcycle in Lahore.why not in Islamabad and rest of pakistani city.i am so proud to see our woman to be liberated this way we get rid of cript male dominated society
good luck Ladies and God help you .
.
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Jan 11, 2016 06:19am
That is awesome.
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Jan 11, 2016 06:20am
Lahore generally seems to outpace itself in women's rights and freedoms when compared to Karachi.
Its weird, because one would expect Karachite women to be more empowered than the ones in Punjab, but that is not the case.
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Jan 11, 2016 06:41am
Go Pakistani Girls - rock the world - you are equal in every single respect to the men of this wonderful land !!!
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Jan 11, 2016 06:44am
Pillion drivers, Please wear helmet!!. Women of "WoW", you Rock Ladies!!!.
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Jan 11, 2016 07:00am
@Bye Bye - You are absolutely right. I noticed in India women drivers, both on two wheels as well as cars, are much better drivers than men.
Congratulations.
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Jan 11, 2016 07:32am
Wow! good to see Pakistani women on the motor bikes.
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Jan 11, 2016 07:45am
@Maqsood Baloch Thank you Maqsood for a positive comments otherwise people say on each and every thing under the sun (even bad ones) why Punjab? and themselves do nothing.
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Jan 11, 2016 07:52am
@Santosh Menon
"Pillion drivers, Please wear helmet!!. "
yes please, they must.
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Jan 11, 2016 08:08am
Love it. Way to go. Pakistani women are very talented and with their support we can win respect again in the world.
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Jan 11, 2016 08:51am
good job.keep it up
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Jan 11, 2016 08:55am
Are CM of Sind, Balauchistan and KP sleeping?
Whay can we not see initiatives from other provinces too?
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Jan 11, 2016 09:06am
Invasion of the West on culture is bearing fruits. The dilemma is that it will not make us one of them but deprive us of our own identity. No wonder world looks down upon us.
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Jan 11, 2016 09:25am
GREAT!!!
it would be really a good step for the women motivation and support in the society. As i ws so awaited for this announcement. finally it is going to happen. BRAVO!
Good JOB CM.. Bless you
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Jan 11, 2016 09:26am
Awesome!
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Jan 11, 2016 09:31am
Love it Love it Love it. Stay strong.
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Jan 11, 2016 09:32am
Excellant...
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Jan 11, 2016 09:37am
woman needs protection first then scooty!!!!
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Jan 11, 2016 09:42am
good move...bt bikes should not be distributed...skill of driving program should be financed.
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Jan 11, 2016 09:56am
Brave new girls.Keep it up.Stay strong.Bless you.
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Jan 11, 2016 10:06am
Go Girls!
An important step in the right direction, other provincial governments as well as the Federal government must take note of the initiative, introduce similar steps and in the longer run focus on making streets, roads, cities and towns safer for women so that more and more girls and women become able to pursue to whatever they want independently and free from fear. As for the citizens of this country, men and women both, we must accept the rights of women with an open heart and ensure within our capacity that girls and women are not harassed and that they are safe.
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Jan 11, 2016 10:12am
Wow.... it's great news. Definitely a step in the right direction.
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Jan 11, 2016 10:26am
It is a good initiative towards women empowerment. But a question arises here. Why do we try to copy Europeans blindly? Out culture is different. We need to take different steps towards women empowerment.
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Jan 11, 2016 10:34am
Empowering women is the need of every Country!
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Jan 11, 2016 10:47am
More power to the women of this country!
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Jan 11, 2016 10:56am
Brave daughters
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Jan 11, 2016 10:58am
Great respect for our women. They are already doing great, but such steps will make them independent and cost effective to work. I feel investors should launch Skooty kind of bikes for easy mobility and ride for women.
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Jan 11, 2016 11:07am
Loved the lotus colour of their jersey!!!!
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Jan 11, 2016 11:28am
Girls in Punjab are far more active and brave. They outnumbered boys in exams, Medical, CSS. There are a few concerns that Girls admissions in medical colleges should be capped.
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Jan 11, 2016 11:42am
Its a very familiar sight in India, big cities and small towns too . Women riding scooters to work or dropping off their kids to school, wearing jeans salwar kameezes or even in saris.
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Jan 11, 2016 11:59am
We are too late but such a good initiative.
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Jan 11, 2016 12:06pm
WOOOOOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
A Giant Leap for Pakistani Women
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Jan 11, 2016 12:12pm
Thank you for Respecting Daughters, Sisters, Wifes and Mothers.
Ganesh - India.
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Jan 11, 2016 01:20pm
Provide them scooties. More female friendly
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Jan 11, 2016 01:22pm
Good to see that women have started riding bikes.We welcome all queries for Genuine Studds Helmets (Made In India ) of which we are the pioneer importer in Pakistan. We request all the riders to wear helmets that are manufactured under DOT technology and which can bear the impact .Most of the helmets that are imported are made of Plastic and can easily break .( one very easy test is to hammer a plastic helmet and see how it break's into pieces.)
God protect us all.
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Jan 11, 2016 01:34pm
Nice to Pakistani women with full confidence on bike roaming on streets of Lahore.
Hope same can be achieved in Peshawar.
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Jan 11, 2016 01:37pm
Saw woman in white?
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Jan 11, 2016 01:42pm
plan to open up Indian TVS scooty shop in Pakistan. how to educate the millions of male bike riders on road etiquettes and tolerance.
I hope this is not just one of the publicity stunts he likes to pull now and then.
female bike riding was never the issue..
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Jan 11, 2016 01:52pm
Useless exercise, women can not be empowered by driving bikes.
Instead of focusing on real issues like education and employment,
we go for publicity stunts like pink buses, pink rickshaws that are spend millions on and just disappear after a while.
While the state of female education (and education in general) is in shambles,
just look at the Govt. spending in this sector, especially the spending on human resource,
and not the contacts for buildings, furniture and other means of monetary embezzlement.
Same is true for our justice system, no need to comment on its sorry state.
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Jan 11, 2016 01:54pm
MashAllah, so happy to see this!
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Jan 11, 2016 02:07pm
@ITSOK She is Austrian Ambassador Brigitta Blaha
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Jan 11, 2016 02:12pm
Any one heard of Zenith Irfan, the first Pakistani girl who dared to ride solo through northern areas on bike.
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Jan 11, 2016 02:48pm
Women are working passionately in every field of life so this is nice initiative to prepare ladies for bike riding. We r are tourists bike rider (K2 Kings tourists association of Pakistan) and we go every where in Pakistan on bike now we expecting ladies tourists bikerz also move on bike with us. Finally good work of Punjab traffic Police officials.
Regards.
Ali Ahmed Tahir
President K2 Kings Tourists association of Pakistan
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Jan 11, 2016 03:03pm
@Zahid Ali -- This is exactly the problem of mindset... Changes in culture are natural and one should be open for that. You can not expect same living standards and culture all the time.
To give an example, just a couple of years back using Cell phone was not a culture but today everyone uses.. Same goes with TV, Electricity, Aeroplane, Hospitals, Cinema, Malls, Cloths ... its never ending limit. You have no issues in accepting these. Then why you have to remind culture especially when women are thrilled and liked about it.
Its not a question of copying..
Its an excellent initiative. You and every one should welcome it.
We hope that you will change your mindset and get convinced the with the change of winds...
We also hope that only a marginal % of people have this issue and surely they will overcome with this mindset.
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Jan 11, 2016 03:28pm
Wow.. This is nice.
Lahore is like Mumbai or Bangalore I guess.
What bike is the lady police officer riding??
It is interesting to so many brands of bikes there. Many are Honda though.
Congratulations to the organisers and participants.
Imtiaz
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Jan 11, 2016 03:54pm
Wow!
BTW, the pillion riders must ALSO wear helmets.
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Jan 11, 2016 03:55pm
i wish this happens in KARACHI too..
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Jan 11, 2016 04:15pm
nothing better than a nation with empowered and well educated and well informed women but why cant we empower women our own way why do we have to follow colonials to fake empowerment?
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Jan 11, 2016 05:41pm
good for them.
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Jan 11, 2016 05:49pm
I so want one bike or scooty or Vespa. I will love to goto office and my uni.
It will help me being independant and not wait for taxi on road side and get harrased day by day.
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Jan 11, 2016 06:49pm
Farhat Hashmi, your way for Pakistani women is totally rejected. Equality of rights for women is the way to go, instead of hiding them behind veils. Excellent initiative by CM Shehbaz Sharif.
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Jan 11, 2016 07:12pm
Asma is without helmet.bad message to girls.safty must be priority.
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Jan 11, 2016 08:25pm
Motor bikes are one step above the scooter. Probably safer and more convenient for women to handle a scooter or moped.
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Jan 11, 2016 10:36pm
well done girls
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Jan 11, 2016 10:38pm
nice to see this activitiy in lahore by the brave girls . welcome back lahore
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Jan 11, 2016 11:02pm
It iz an excellent project for woman plzzzz it iz a request we wanna see it in rawalpindi alsoo
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Jan 12, 2016 01:14am
Women need to grasp their rights, freedom of movement and equal opportunity to education, employment and the pursuit of happiness.
Well done, one hopes this is the harbinger of more progress to end gender discrimination!
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Jan 12, 2016 02:57am
Congrats punjab for taking lead in women empowerment- great initiative for FoMovement
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Jan 12, 2016 03:26am
I think this isn't gonna work for very long. I mean.. how can these ladies stop wearing heeled shoes and switch to sneakers to ride a bike.
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Jan 12, 2016 08:59am
@naveed funny you should ask. Actually this rally was to raise awareness about the Violence Against Women initiative that Lahore Govt has taken. According to which, there are multiple VAWC (violence against women centers) are opened where women would get speedy justice.
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Jan 12, 2016 09:33am
@naveed , I believe women's rights in Pakistan should not be seen from the lens of "all or not at all." We definitely need to address the deep rooted social justice issues but at the same time we should also appreciate the small steps to promote visibility of women in social sphere. That is what the WOW is all about.
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Jan 12, 2016 02:59pm
Excellent Work...
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Jan 12, 2016 04:18pm
Hey this is old news my sister use to ride a scooter in the 1960 to 1965 in Karachi Saddar for many years, I believe she was the only one that owned and rode a scooter in that time
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Jan 12, 2016 07:16pm
Scooties are much better for ladies. Women in full Burqa can't ride bikes.
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Jan 12, 2016 08:43pm
Congrats to everyone involved in taking this step and also to the people who have made it successful.
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Jan 12, 2016 09:01pm
Women on Wheels project is a great effort by Chief Minister of Punjab( congratulations ) ..Mian Shahbaz Sharif keep it up.If we want to compete world ,we have to empower women in all walk of life .
Dawn is always my favourite newspaper .As always Dawn highlights women issues and projects positively women leadership.Now again is leading in projection of WOW project excellently WELL DONE DAWN
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Jan 12, 2016 09:41pm
Great initiative!
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Jan 12, 2016 09:41pm
Great initiative!
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Jan 13, 2016 01:42am
nothing new.. women already drive bikes in Pakistan as well as in India. However, if they are not oppressed and they realize their power,their limits and they get protection from the male dominant society, only then it will be a wonder!
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Jan 13, 2016 04:50am
Very proud of you!! Keep it up !
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Jan 13, 2016 05:44am
It is nice feeling that women are coming out to contribute to the society and get their fair share from the society. It is centuries of feudal manipulation that has shaped the women
as weaker gender. In fact they can do and should do whatever men do.
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Jan 13, 2016 09:39am
@syed wasim Its never too late for anything in life! Just requires determination and commitment! and mind set!
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Jan 13, 2016 12:21pm
Excellent sight!!
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Jan 13, 2016 02:31pm
WoW....awesum...Go Girls
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Jan 13, 2016 02:41pm
but helmet should wear, because Pakistan trafic very very dangerous!!! people drive so rude and faster, thats the problem.
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Jan 13, 2016 03:45pm
If women can derive Bikes esaily in India,Indonesia and Sri Lanka why cant they do it in Pakistan.
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Jan 13, 2016 07:16pm
An excellent step to be appreciated . This initiative should transported to every city of Pakistan.
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