Strapping a helmet

Rules and regulations for motor vehicles in India have been mindful of this tension. While the Central Motor Vehicles Rules makes it compulsory for every person driving or riding a motorcycle to wear a helmet,it makes an exception for a Sikh wearing a turban and says that the state government may provide for such exception that it seems fit. Which is what the Delhi government did,by making helmets optional for women. The issue was about a Sikh wearing headgear other than the turban,and since singling out Sikh women would have only led to an unseemly profiling on the roads,it was extended to all women. However,on the fast lanes of big cities,two-wheelers are extremely vulnerable,second only to pedestrians. In 2011,according to official estimates,there were around 640 deaths in Delhi due to two-wheeler accidents. Of these,48 were women riders.

Dikshit should imaginatively take the discussion forward. She should reach out to and engage with Sikhs,their liberal scholars and theologians; the political and administrative arm and the religious bodies should together evolve a solution. Campaigns to educate women on the necessity of wearing a helmet should be intensified. This is a matter of life and death.