Hamza Shahbaz Sharif had good and bad news to give kite flying enthusiasts the other day. The Punjab government, he disclosed, is thinking about reviving kite flying during 2014 Basant. It is not going to be an open season, though. Instead kite flying is to be allowed only on an experimental basis as part of annual sports at two designated spots away from Lahore either in the Chhanga Manga forest part or Jallo Park. In other words, it will only be a token celebration of Basant sans its original Lahori flavour. A vast majority of those who take the sport seriously or are eager participants in the festivities surrounding Basant will have to wait for the experiment to work.
Since the source of trouble is lethal twine that led to a ban on Basant, the junior Sharif said the provincial government would supply safe string for the event. It obviously cannot do that for the wider market. The experiment therefore offers little hope of full resumption of Basant festivities. Notably, the killer kite string made its advent in the late 90s as the sport started to take on a commercial colour. It began to be treated with chemicals and other lethal materials to make it ever stronger and razor sharp. Only genuine kite flyers can tell whether the string upgradation was desirable or not. But to those using motor bikes as a means of transportation, the new string from fallen kites posed as serious a threat as America’s drones. It cut throats of a number of people riding motor bikes on their way to or from an office, school, shopping errand or a visit with friends and relatives. This has been happening not only on the Basant day. Kites would go up anytime, day or night, anywhere all through the year. Motor bike riders kept dying until the Lahore High Court took a suo motu notice ordering the provincial government to put a ban on kite flying back in 2006. Some incorrigible kiters would still cheat and kill people they never knew.
Interestingly, until not long ago, most in the upper classes saw kite flying as commoners’, rather street urchins’, sport worthy of much contempt. Somehow they took fancy to it during the recent years though a majority of them have been more interested in Basant festivities than the sport itself. These people now are at the forefront of those agitating for its revival. People get killed in some other sports as well, they argue, such as car racing, yet it goes on. The example is irrelevant, considering that a race driver takes a calculated risk either for the sake of thrill, money or fame, or all of these rewards the sport brings. Reference is also made to the annual Running of the Bulls festival in Spain. Men run in front of bulls on a special route to show off courage and audacity, risking serious injuries, even death. That again is a matter of choice. Those killed by stray kite strings are random victims of other people’s choices.
A privileged few who take to motor bikes, ie if at all they do, is on luxury having motor bikes as a thrill seeking recreational activity. Little wonder then that this class is most vocal about demanding lifting of the restriction on kite flying, arguing that a few lives lost should not deprive the others of the joy that the activity brings. It is sad, actually infuriating, to see such callous disregard for lives lost to throat slitting kite twine or random drone strikes.
That though is not to say Basant should stay banned forever, only that no celebratory event is worth its while if it happens at the cost of human life. Anyone, even an amateur, who has had the opportunity to hold the string of a kite flying high and feel its exhilarating power, or has experienced the challenge of a ‘paicha’ would give anything to go back to it. But that anything must not be other people’s lives. One can only lament the fact that had the concerned authorities taken remedial action early on, we would still be happily celebrating Basant. That was not to be. Like so much else dragging us down, we are in the habit of letting things get from bad to worse, sitting up to take notice only when they begin to hurt badly. The restriction came because the concerned authorities remained unbothered when the chemical and metallic twine first started being used in the 90s, and claiming lives.
So, is it possible to revive Basant in its true spirit without cutting motor cyclists’ throats? Yes. Here is how. The government should chalk out a two-pronged plan of action, focusing on the makers and sellers of twine on the one hand and seeking community assistance on the other hand. The production and sale should be allowed only under city authority’s licence so that kite string’s origin can be traced back and anyone found violating the prescribed standard held to account. Equally important, considering that in the event of a stray string causing harm it is almost impossible for the police to identify the culprit, the responsibility for it should be shifted to local communities who normally know who does what in their respective neighbourhoods. After the upcoming local bodies elections, elected leaders would be better placed to identify the violators and report them to the concerned authorities for proper legal proceedings. And of course the government should try and create awareness about the hazard of chemical/metal strings through a sustained media campaign. Hopefully, all involved – the sport enthusiasts, celebrants, kite and string makers and sellers, the catering industry and corporate sector using the occasion to attract business contacts – will play their respective roles to revive Basant with its original fun and fervour.
saida_fazal@yahoo.com
Saida Fazal, "View Point: Reviving Lahore’s Basant," Business recorder. 2013-12-19.Keywords: Social sciences , Social issues , Social needs , Social problems , Social activities , Basant , Hamza Shahbaz , Lahore , Pakistan