By Rana Kashif
LAHORE: The Muttahida Rickshaw and Taxi Union (MRTU) decided on Wednesday to observe Quran Khawani (Recitation of the Holy Quran) and wheel jam strikes on June 15 for the fulfillment of their demands against the city government’s decision to ban two-stroke rickshaws in Lahore, said MRTU chairman Muhammad Asghar Khan Mohmand.
He said, “We will also stage a protest demonstration after the Quran Khawani session till the government allows us to modify our two-stroke rickshaws into four strokes.”
He said the MRTU’s negotiations with the chief minister on June 5 had born no fruits, because the government was forcing the rickshaw drivers to purchase government-approved four stroke rickshaws on high prices. He said the government was positioning to impose ban on two-strokes in the city. He said the MRTU had demanded the modification of two-stroke rickshaws into four strokes, because the MRTU was also against pollution. He said, “As the government is not accepting the demands of the rickshawalas through negotiations, so the MRTU has decided to observe the Quran Khawani at the Lytton Road.” On the next day of the Quran Khawani, he said, the MRTU would start to hold wheel-jam strikes in the city. He said the rickshawalas would leave no stone unturned.
Sources from the city government said the government was not ready to accept the demands of the rickshawalas. They said no one could give the surety of the locally made four-stroke engine. They said the government had no mechanism to inspect the quality of the locally made engine. In the case the modified engine was approved, 12 companies that were producing CNG four stroke rickshaws will face heavy losses. It was learnt that the city government had decided to ban the two-stroke rickshaws as per the directions of the Lahore High Court to keep the city’s environment clean.