Lahore’s Basant Festival Canceled
April 14th, 2008 by Menachem Wecker
Image: Boston Herald.
Pakistan’s annual Basant festival (think Kabul’s version, as in Kite Runner) has been canceled with officials citing security concerns, AP reports (HT: Lahore Nama).
“How can we ignore the deaths of innocent people to celebrate anything?” says Sohail Janjua of the city government. More to the point:
The sport was banned in recent years in Pakistan after several people were accidentally killed by low-flying kite strings coated with glass. But the ban is difficult to enforce, and was relaxed each year to allow people to celebrate Basant.
Kite-flying duels involving betting are popular during the festival. Some fliers reinforce strings with wire or ground glass to give them an advantage in the congested sky. When strings cross, competitors try to cut loose opponents’ kite.
It’s interesting how artistic depictions romanticize the festival. I never realized how dangerous it was.