Pakistan Cracks Down on Kite Flying

In America we have the war on Christmas, but that is nothing compared to the war on Basant in Pakistan.

The Basant festival is celebrated every spring in India and Pakistan to welcome new season. The flying of kites is so ubiquitous that an Indian friend of mine has described the effect as there being as many kites in the sky as stars at night. There is a good amount of sophistication in the kites. They are very stable in flight, some carry lights, but what has caused a stir with authorities, some have chemical, metal or glass coated string.

The strings are coated to facilitate the cutting of other kite strings. Children will try to follow falling kites to retrieve them for themselves. Kite strings with a metal coating have been known to short out electrical grids by falling over power lines.

In Pakistan, Islamic authorities are trying to ban the celebrations because they are Hindu in origin. Other government officials are trying to ban the kite flying because so many people are hurt or killed by falling of roofs or being cut by the strings. In Lahore, Pakistan 1400 people have been arrested for kite flying. Protests have been organized by religious leaders to stop the celebration of a Hindu festival. Police officers have been suspended for not keeping the skies in their precinct free of kites