Eye-catching rickshaws promote peace in Pakistan
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One of the peace rickshaws thought up by Pakistani youth leader Syed Ali Abbas Zaidi passing through a slum in Karachi on Feb 2, 2013. Pakistani youth leader Syed Ali Abbas Zaidi has a plan to counter the relentless message of violence spewed forth by radical Islamic groups in his country - and he is stealing a gimmick from the hard-liners' own playbook to do it. -- PHOTO: AP
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Pakistani artist Nusrat Iqbal puts final touches to a rickshaw in Karachi, Pakistan on Saturday, Feb 2, 2013. Pakistani youth leader Syed Ali Abbas Zaidi has a plan to counter the relentless message of violence spewed forth by radical Islamic groups in his country - and he is stealing a gimmick from the hard-liners' own playbook to do it. -- PHOTO: AP
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Pakistani artists prepare colorful panels for rickshaws in Karachi, Pakistan on Saturday, Feb 2, 2013. Pakistani youth leader Syed Ali Abbas Zaidi has a plan to counter the relentless message of violence spewed forth by radical Islamic groups in his country - and he is stealing a gimmick from the hard-liners' own playbook to do it. -- PHOTO: AP
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Pakistani artists prepare colorful panels for rickshaws in Karachi, Pakistan on Saturday, Feb 2, 2013. Pakistani youth leader Syed Ali Abbas Zaidi has a plan to counter the relentless message of violence spewed forth by radical Islamic groups in his country - and he is stealing a gimmick from the hard-liners' own playbook to do it. -- PHOTO: AP
One of the peace rickshaws thought up by Pakistani youth leader Syed Ali Abbas Zaidi passing through a slum in Karachi on Feb 2, 2013. Pakistani youth leader Syed Ali Abbas Zaidi has a plan to counter the relentless message of violence spewed forth by radical Islamic groups in his country - and he is stealing a gimmick from the hard-liners' own playbook to do it. -- PHOTO: AP
Pakistani artist Nusrat Iqbal puts final touches to a rickshaw in Karachi, Pakistan on Saturday, Feb 2, 2013. Pakistani youth leader Syed Ali Abbas Zaidi has a plan to counter the relentless message of violence spewed forth by radical Islamic groups in his country - and he is stealing a gimmick from the hard-liners' own playbook to do it. -- PHOTO: AP
Pakistani artists prepare colorful panels for rickshaws in Karachi, Pakistan on Saturday, Feb 2, 2013. Pakistani youth leader Syed Ali Abbas Zaidi has a plan to counter the relentless message of violence spewed forth by radical Islamic groups in his country - and he is stealing a gimmick from the hard-liners' own playbook to do it. -- PHOTO: AP
Pakistani artists prepare colorful panels for rickshaws in Karachi, Pakistan on Saturday, Feb 2, 2013. Pakistani youth leader Syed Ali Abbas Zaidi has a plan to counter the relentless message of violence spewed forth by radical Islamic groups in his country - and he is stealing a gimmick from the hard-liners' own playbook to do it. -- PHOTO: AP
KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) - Pakistani youth leader Syed Ali Abbas Zaidi has a plan to counter the relentless message of violence spewed forth by radical Islamic groups in his country - and he is stealing a gimmick from the hard-liners' own playbook to do it.
His weapon: the three-wheeled motorised rickshaws that buzz along Pakistan's streets carrying paying customers.
Radical Islamists have long used the rickshaws as a canvas to market slogans in support of religious warfare in neighboring India and Afghanistan and to foster hatred against the United States.
Mr Zaidi is turning that strategy on its head with a fleet of rickshaws emblazoned with peace slogans and decorated with colourful designs similar to those found on many trucks and buses in the country.
