Dubai: More than 100 riders from 15 community biker groups in the UAE joined the Unity Ride 2021 organised by the Pakistani Association Dubai on Friday to celebrate the country’s Golden Jubilee and 50 years of historic ties between the UAE and Pakistan.
Carrying the theme Connecting Hearts - Creating Impact, the riders took a 12-km ride around Dubai before arriving at the PAD centre in Oud Metha.
PAD president Dr Faisal Ikram told Gulf News: “We are very thankful to all the bikers who joined us in this Unity Ride. The last ride we did was in 2019, before the inauguration of Pakistan Medical Centre (PMC).”
“We are very happy to host over 100 bikers and we assure that this activity will lay the foundation for many more rides uniting the community and raising awareness on community issues, as well as historic ties among the UAE, Pakistan, and other countries. This unity ride also sends a message of how people coming from different backgrounds come together to promote hope, tolerance, solidarity and camaraderie,” he underlined.
Strong UAE-Pakistan ties
On commemorating the historic ties between the UAE and Pakistan, Dr Ikram said, "There is truly a strong bond between the UAE and Pakistan.”
Pakistan Consul General in Dubai Hassan Afzal Khan noted that the strong fraternal ties between the two countries started even before the formation of the UAE.
Solidarity riders
Indian expat Gurnam Singh, senior admin of the group Singh Motorcycle Club-UAE, said the Unity Ride organised by PAD was a wonderful initiative. He added: “We also participated in the Unity Ride back in 2019 for a charitable organisation (PMC). Our message is that through this ride we connect our community of riders. At the end of the day, we share the same road; we share the culture and aim for the same purpose of having a tolerant community. We have a passion to unite the community of bikers, regardless of nationality.”
Rizwan Butt, member of Royal Riders Group and the main organiser of the event said: “I’m very pleased with the turnout of riders. It is always a pleasure to organise and bring all my colleagues, friends and the bikers community for this ride, as we did two years ago in2019.”
Health promo for bikers
Meanwhile, the Pakistan Medical Centre has announced a special health check packge for the participating riders and their families. PMC medical director Dr Nasim Sabir said they are offering Dh150 for 50 tests that include lipid profile, diabetes screening, kidney profile, liver profile, vitamin D check and general health check, for those who joined in the Unity Ride and their immediate families.
PMC is a multi-specialty polyclinic which offers services such as pediatrics, dentistry, gynaecology, cardiology, oncology, ENT, ophthalmology, dermatology and radiology. It opened last year and has served over 15,000 patients, across 50 nationalities, with 50 per cent of the patients receiving free medical services.
