http://m.timesofindia.com/city/thane/articleshow/45161896.cms?intenttarget=no
On crowded Mumbra roads, schoolgirls break stereotypes with pedal power Nov 16, 2014, 02.50AM IST TNN[ Freny Fernandes ] MUMBRA: A sense of pride and feeling of liberation was evident on the face of 14-year-old Uma Qureshi as she peddled her pink cycle through Mumbra roads along with 150 other girls from her school to celebrate the 125th birth anniversary of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru on Friday. It was an uncommon sight in the minority-dominated township, as the young girls wearing hijab (head gear) or a full burqa rode the bicycles, giggled and raised slogans for protection of their rights without any restriction. They were helped in this initiative by women activists of NGO Parcham. Sabha Khan, a functionary of Parcham, said, "It was a successful attempt to break stereotypes that exist in the area regarding women's rights." Amal Pandre (18), a volunteer, said, "The social environment in this town is not very progressive when it comes to women. Parents impose strict restrictions on girls and they are not allowed outside unless escorted by family members. This initiative will go a long way in building the confidence and self-esteem of the girls." Last year, more than 350 bicycles were gifted to the school girls by the TMC administration, but most of them could not ride those as they were never taught to do so. Uma Qureshi was one of those girls whose parents refused to allow her to ride the bicycle stating that it was "inappropriate" to do so in public. The cycle was given away to her brother. This initiative allowed Uma to take back what was meant for her. Four volunteers from Parcham spent a week before the rally to teach these girls ride the bicycles. Muskaan Sayed, a volunteer of Parcham, said, "We trained around 200 students. During our interaction with them, we saw that they barely utilized their cycles." Ruksar Khan (15) from TMC School No. 13, said, "I started learning to ride a cycle last week with the volunteers here and I loved every bit of it. I will now cycle to school and back home." Parsham paid Rs 6,000 for the maintenance of 40 unused cycles. They also took 20 cycles on rent for those who didn't have one and wanted to participate in the rally. "While everyone here idolizes Malala, few stand up for themselves. Women are limited to their homes and markets or to take care of their children," Khan added. MLA Jitendra Awhad, TMC commissioner Aseem Gupta and support groups were present at the rally. -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
