Posted on 03/09/2006 3:11:59 AM PST by Cornpone
Lahore: Increasing casualties from kite flying have prompted a provincial minister to threaten the use of the anti-terrorism law to curb the use of hazardous kites, while an organisation has called for a total ban of the sport.
Flying kites which is a tradition of the spring festival Basant in Punjab province has resulted in seven accidental deaths in a span of 14 days in Lahore.
The sport is banned in the province, but the Supreme Court has lifted it for 15 days from Sunday for the Basant festival. The Jamiat Ulema Pakistan (JUP) has asked the Punjab government to ban kite-flying. It threatened a shut down on Saturday if the government failed to stop the festival.
Anti-Kite Flying Democratic Front (AKFDF) President Khwaja Izhar Amratsari yesterday termed kite-flying a game of death and destruction and held the government responsible for the killings.
He said that his association would stage a demonstration in front of Data Darbar tomorrow to urge the government to ban kite-flying. AKFDF Secretary General Muhammad Alam Bhatti said a ban was imposed on kite-flying in July, 2003 when 42 deaths were reported. The death toll has increased to 85, despite which the Supreme Court relaxed the ban.
The sport is banned for all but 15 days of the year.
Punjab Chief Minister Pervez Elahi warned kite-flyers who cause injury or death with string made from metal or coated with glass that they could be tried under anti-terrorism laws. Passions run high during kite-flying contests in Pakistan and neighbouring India and it often involves aerial duels in which participants try to bring down each other's kites using string coated in a sticky paste of ground glass or metal.
"It is a matter of concern that a healthy sport is being turned into a game of death," the official APP news agency quoted Elahi as saying on Tuesday.
"Action under the Anti-Terrorism Act would be taken in case of deaths due to ... dangerous kite-flying string," he was quoted as saying.
Several organisations held demonstrations against kite flying yesterday in different localities of the city.
The Arab version of Scrappleface?
Put it on Pay Per View!
The Taliban banned kite flying as "Un Islamic."
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