Summary CM Punjab takes a notice of kite flying and Basant celebrations in different cities of the province.
Dunya News Report (Humaira Sajid)
LAHORE - Chief Minister (CM) Shehbaz Sharif said that violators of the ban pertaining to kite flying would not be spared at any cost, Dunya News reported.
While taking a strong notice of kite flying and Basant celebrations in different cities of the province CM directed authorities concerned to take action against those violating the ban without any discrimination. The chief minister has sought report from police and local administration over the violation of ban on Basant festivities and kite flying in different cities of Punjab.
However, President of All Pakistan Paper Merchants Association (APPMA) and founder of KiteFlying Festival in Pakistan Khawaja Nadeem Saeed Wayeen said that Kite flying industry has the potential to inject new blood to the economy of Punjab. It would not bring billion rupees in circulation but would also drag in thousands tourists and huge foreign investment.
“Kite flying festival could be made harmless through joint efforts of the All Pakistan Kite Flying Association (AKFA), All Pakistan Paper Merchants Association (APPMA) and Punjab Government therefore Chief Minister Punjab Mian Shehbaz Sharif should constitute a high-powered committee at the earliest”.
In a statement issued here, Khawaja Nadeem Saeed Wain said that AKFA appreciates the Punjab government efforts aimed at revival of economic activities. He said that Kite Flying Festival would supplement the government efforts and will make Punjab an attractive destination for the foreigners. He said that restoration of kite flying festival will not only highlight soft image of the country but can also give Punjab government revenue of billions rupees for its development projects.
Kite making attained the status of cottage industry and provided employment to thousands of women who earned handsome money for their bread and butter by making kite at their homes. He said that these thousands women and their families are compelled for starvation due to ban on Kite Flying Festival. Around 150,000 people in Lahore, 100,000 people in Gujranwala and 80,000 people in Kasur, affiliated with KiteFlying industry, have lost their employment and face hunger, he added.
President of the association had demanded the Chief Minister to order authorities concerned to coordinate and help form a reformed plan for safer kite flying in open areas in Lahore and other cities.
Punjab Prohibition of Kite Flying Amendment Bill was passed in 2009 that forbids manufacture and sale of kites. The bill was passed owing to deaths during Basant festival. Kite-string, razor sharp thread used to fly kites claimed dozens of lives in years before the activity was banned.
Across the border in Delhi and Amritsar huge celebrations are planned. In Kabul of all places it will be a holiday as the people fly kites and enjoy their finest foods. It might amaze our puritans that even in Tehran they will be celebrating.
Newspaper reports inform that Basant celebrations are planned in England, France, Germany, Bangladesh and many cities of the USA and it is expected to attract over thousands of people. What Lahore lost has been an immense gain for the entire world.
In every civilization there are moments of collective happiness which people love to share. It is an unprompted response, almost a genetic switch, in all humans. Collective happiness is best in evidence when the crops are ripe and wealth is expected to flow your way. Given ‘perfect’ weather, celebration is a human need. People measure life in terms of colour and happiness. That is why when in 2007 this amazing festival of Basant, which attracted tourists from all over the world, was banned, it took away from the poor the one true unprompted all-inclusive happiness they loved and indulged in. The reason being that a new lethal wire was being used for kite-flying by a handful of spoilsports.
No death can be justified, least of all the ones caused by revelers who want to win at all cost. Instead of finding a solution, our inept rulers banned a thousand years of culture. To be honest one did not expect much better from them.
Examining the police figures for ‘kite-string’ deaths and locate them, of the total of 14 deaths by kite-string over the last seven years, not a single one took place inside the walled city of Lahore. But there is a compelling reason why all the deaths took place on main roads on motorcycles, and that being that this ‘wire’, normally used by doctors to stitch patients after an operation, does not snap, and children on motorcycles at speed are sadly caught.
Basant was our one true festival of the masses, a time of great joy and happiness, an occasion enjoyed by rich and poor alike. Yes, innocent people died every year because of illegal kite string. But the answer was to ensure the unavailability of illegal kite string, not to throw out the baby with the bathwater. But perhaps the time has finally come for our leaders to stop forcing Pakistanis into a particular mould. Perhaps the time has instead come to trust the people.
