Price of Poverty on Two Wheels

Asem Mustafa Awan

Islamabad: In a country where nearly half the population lives below the poverty line, as reported by the World Bank, the sight of an elderly man balancing heaps of snack packets on his motorbike through the narrow lanes of Hyderabad tells a story more powerful than any statistic.

It is the story of survival against all odds, of dignity carried on two fragile wheels, and of a system that continues to punish the very people it has already failed.

Pakistan’s poverty line, measured in terms of the income needed to afford a basic diet, housing, healthcare, and education, translates to less than a few hundred rupees per day for millions. For those like this old man, every litre of petrol and every traffic fine cut deep into the day’s meagre earnings.

Yet, the government’s policy continues to treat motorcyclists as easy revenue sources — cash cows for a depleted exchequer. Instead of relief or reform, there is resentment; instead of empathy, enforcement.

It is unjust to impose uniform fines on those who do not live in uniform conditions. A policy that penalizes a struggling worker the same way it penalizes a high-income violator is not law and order — it is oppression under the guise of regulation.

Motorcycles are not a luxury for the poor; they are their livelihoods, their school buses, their ambulances, and their last remaining lifelines in a crumbling economy.

As energy and utility prices soar, many Pakistanis now pay more for gas and electricity than for their monthly rent. Households face impossible choices — whether to eat, educate their children, or stay connected to basic utilities. Poverty has become not just an economic condition but an existential test of endurance.

No government that claims to represent its people should ever profit from their misery. Reasonable fines, targeted subsidies, and compassionate policies can restore public faith far more effectively than force.

The man in the photograph does not need punishment; he needs policy that sees him, supports him, and spares him from the daily indignity of surviving in a state that has forgotten to care.

Asem Mustafa Awan has extensive reporting experience with leading national and international media organizations. He has also contributed to reference books such as the Alpine Journal and the American Alpine Journal, among other international publications.

The article is the writer’s opinion, it may or may not adhere to the organization’s editorial policy.