ISLAMABAD: A Gallup and Gilani survey has found that 88 percent of respondents support the government’s ban on a traditional kite flying festival and kite flying in the country.
The support for the ban has remained relatively stable over the past years, as 85 percent of respondents in 2006 expressed support for the government’s decision, showed results of the Gallup and Gilani Pakistan survey.
Kite flying is popular in some parts of South Asia, and Basant is a traditional kite flying festival which is popular, especially in Punjab where people all over the city fly kites from their rooftops.
The annual festival of Basant, which marks the start of spring in Punjab, involves aerial duels in which participants try to bring down each other’s kites using string coated in a sticky paste of ground-up glass or metal.
Women dress in their most brilliant colours for what’s become a major festival drawing thousands of celebrants to Lahore as well as multinational companies that rent rooftops for clients and guests.
Supreme Court banned kite-flying nationwide in 2005 in response to an outcry over injuries and deaths caused every year by the glass-coated string.
The Basant festival was banned in Punjab in 2007. The government imposed the ban because of unsafe practices. But despite a police crackdown, every year hundreds of people continue to fly kites from their rooftops.
