IT has only been a few weeks, but the pink buses scurrying about on Lahore’s roads have the city’s big brothers reassuring and warning that they are watching. They are not shaving off eyebrows and heads as yet — even though this is the fate that has in the past befallen many men wanting to break into women-only sections on buses in the city. But the supervisors are concerned, which means they must have received complaints. The head of the Lahore Transport Company says the buses will be monitored for any male presence — barring the male driver, of course, who remains at the helm, at least for the moment. The LTC is running the pink buses as a pilot project on three city routes.

It says a decision is pending on whether or not elderly men and men accompanying women will be allowed on them. This has led to concerns that such exemptions would give operators an excuse to pick up male passengers at will. But the operators’ argument is they do not have a sufficient number of women passengers at all times of the day to make the service a profitable venture.

There are surely those who oppose the idea of women-only buses, just as there is disagreement over the women quota in the assemblies and elsewhere. The trend is identified as reflective of the segregation and discrimination that prevents men and women in Pakistan from closing ranks and walking together. But out there on the roads it is also a reality that women feel uneasy when they are surrounded, even harassed by men. Feasibility and finances must be worked out if there are concerns about the scheme’s profitability. But the pink buses give women an option and should continue.