Rash and brash young bikers get friendly, neighbourhood advice

MUMBAI: Dharavi resident Imran Sayyed (17), who had started helping out his brother at a garments unit just a few months ago, died on Saturday when the bike he was speeding on skidded near Bandra Reclamation. One of the two teenaged pillion riders on his bike sustained grave injuries.

Imran’s story is neither isolated and unfortunately may not be the last in a city where death stalks the roads not just for rash bikers, but also fellow commuters. Shocked by Imran’s death and a spike in the number of rash biking by teenagers, community groups have begun to take active steps to beat the growing menace. Not satisfied with tough actions and soft counselling sessions the cops claim to hold, community leaders, activists and clerics have taken it upon themselves to stop speeding bikers from playing with their lives.

As part of the initiative,

NGO Jai Ho Foundation

held a meeting at

Kurla

on Wednesday evening with activists and sought suggestions that could be implemented without delay.

“The problem begins when parents easily part with keys of bikes and allow minor sons to ride them without even wearing helmets,” said Jai Ho’s president Afroz Malik. “If parents, especially mothers, are a little stricter and question where and why young boys want to go on a joyride late at night, many accidents would be avoided.”


Speeding bikes is haram, akin to suicide: Cleric

Accidents also happen due to modifications done on motorbikes to facilitate jaw-dropping stunts. Bandra activist

Shadaab Patel

, who has worked with cops to dissuade racing dangerously along

Carter Road

, recalled a conversation he had with some of the teenagers in the past. “The boys told me that they practised racing at night to impress their girlfriends... I told them that girls will get impressed by their paychecks and not their racing capabilities,” said Patel.

The urgency to counsel is also being felt due to the upcoming Shabe Baraat festival on May 1 when Muslims visit graveyards at night to pray for their dead. Several bike-borne boys race on bikes to Sufi saints’ mausoleums and mosques, creating ruckus, nuisance, and sometimes meeting with accidents. “Suicide is haram in Islam and speeding on bikes is nothing but a suicidal act, unpleasant both to Allah and the Prophet,” said cleric

Mufti Manzoor Hassan Misbahi

.

To spread the message in the community, Maulana Moin Ashraf Qadri (Moin Mian) has called a meeting of imams and preachers at his madrassa in Grant Road on Saturday. “Imams will be requested to use Friday sermons to call upon youngsters against turning this sacred night into a tamasha. If some youths don’t want to visit graveyards, they should spend the night at mosques or at home in prayers,” said

Moin Mian

.

Since sermonizing often falls on deaf ears, Islamic Defence Cyber Cell president Dr A R

Anjaria

suggested the use of social media to hammer home the message. “Let us make short video clips with accident victims.” Anjaria cited the example of a 15-year-old from Vikhroli who has been bed-ridden for three years post a bike accident.

“The family has spent Rs 40 lakh on treatment.” Advocate Adil Khatri suggested that cops increase counselling sessions with parents and youths. “We are doing that. Every police station has been asked to conduct such counselling sessions,” said joint commissioner of police (traffic) Amitesh Kumar.