[sustran] Can Sikh women wear helmets for safety, DSGMC asks Akal Takht

[Asija, Navdeep]

Days after Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit disagreed with her Transport
department’s undertaking to the Delhi High Court that it was willing to
change rules and make it mandatory for women to wear helmets while riding
two-wheelers, the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) has
asked the Akal Takht, the supreme religious and temporal seat of Sikhism,
to decide whether Sikh women should be allowed to wear helmets in the
interest of safety.

The DSGMC move to step beyond religious compulsions on grounds of safety
follows the Transport department’s submission that it was willing to change
provisions in the Delhi Motor Vehicles Rules that exempted women from
wearing helmets. But Dikshit differed, saying the rule making it optional
for women pillion riders to wear helmets was formulated in 1999 on requests
by a particular community — she didn’t name the Sikhs — and that exemption
couldn’t be withdrawn so easily.

Bhajan Singh Walia, Senior Vice President of DSGMC, told Newsline that they
have approached the Akal Takht to take a call, given the safety issue
involved.

“Essentially, the High Court’s decision is in totality for all men and
women in view of safety of people travelling on busy and dangerous Delhi
roads. But our religion absolutely prohibits people from wearing any form
of a cap, and wearing a helmet (a form of cap) goes against the tenets of
our religion,” Walia said.

“Our religious texts have given elaborate details about the way we should
preserve our kesh (hair). Our hair can’t be trimmed, cut or even clipped.
If at all one has to preserve his/her hair, it has to be done in a proper
turban,” he said.

“But the scenario is different today. And here we are talking about the
safety of people, irrespective of religion or gender. The decision of the
Akal Takht would be binding, we have sought their guidance, they are the
supreme authority on all religious matters,” Walia said.

Section 129 of the 1988 Motor Vehicles Act, applicable all over the
country, makes it mandatory for all two-wheeler riders to wear helmets —
with an exemption for Sikh men wearing turbans. The decision to exempt
women from the requirement came after strong protests in 1999 when the
traffic police first started cracking down on riders not wearing helmets.

With the traffic police finding it difficult to identify Sikh women, the
Delhi government exempted women and a June 1999 notification said wearing
any kind of protective headgear while driving a two-wheeler or riding
pillion would be ‘optional’ for women.

“The Motor Vehicles Act in itself does not give exemption to women. It is
the State of Delhi that made the amendments with an undertaking in the High
Court. With the government’s stand, things are not clear right now, and the
High Court could take a call on the matter,” Joint Commissioner of Police
(Traffic) Satyendra Garg said.

“As a traffic enforcement agency, we believe that helmets should be
compulsory for all as an important safety concern. Many of these cases
would not have been fatal if women were wearing helmets. In most cases, it
is the head injury that kills,” Garg said.

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/can-sikh-women-wear-helmets-for-safety-dsgmc-asks-akal-takht/944620/0