LAHORE: Kite flying might be allowed for the Basant festival this year. The Kite Flying Association (KFA) is hoping that the ban will be lifted to allow kite flying on 26th and 27th of February.
KFA members told The Express Tribune that a committee had been formed by Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif after several requests by the association in this regard.
The committee, headed by Senior Advisor to Chief Minister Sardar Zulfiqar Khan Khosa, will announce its decision by the end of the week, they said.
Sheikh Saleem, the KFA general secretary, told the Tribune that the association was hopeful that the government will allow the celebration of Basant.
He said that kite and kite-string manufacturing had developed into an industry that employed a large number of people. In the last few years the ban had affected the investors and the labourers. He said that many kite and string makers knew no other ways for earning livelihood, since they had been involved in this very business for decades.
“I personally know 62 workers who have been affected by the ban. I have seen their families suffering for lack of proper income,” he said. Saleem hoped that the lifting of the ban will provide such labourers a relief.
He said that the law permitted kite flying 15 days a year. “We are only asking for two days.”
Basant, marked by kite flying was one of the most important cultural events of Lahore till the Supreme Court in 2005 took notice of an outcry over injuries and deaths caused every year. Kite flying was banned on October 25th the same year.
The Punjab Assembly on November 18, 2009, passed a bill imposing a ban on kite flying throughout the year, excluding only 15 days in spring for the celebration of Basant.
Since then, the City District Government Lahore has not allowed kite flying.
In neighbouring districts of Gujranwala, Faisalabad and Kasur kite flying had been regular.
District Coordination Officer (DCO), Ahad Khan Cheema, also a member of the committee formed by the chief minister, said he did not consider the lifting of the ban likely. “I don’t think the members would agree to grant permission for the event. Kite flying is not the only issue.
There are immoral activities associated with the festival like drinking, dance parties and gambling.”
He said it was impossible to effectively monitor the city for violations and unreasonable to risk lives.
Saleem regretted that Lahore was being discriminated against as neighbouring cities could still celebrate Basant. If the ban persists, he said, it should also be enforced strictly in other cities of the province.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 2nd, 2011.
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