Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz on Sunday praised the folks of Lahore for abiding by the usual working procedures (SOPs) set by the provincial authorities, because the three-day Basant competition approached its end result.
“Lahore is completely happy right this moment, I’m completely happy, too. The residents of Lahore performed a significant function in making this Basant profitable by following all the principles and rules,” she mentioned in a press release posted on PML-N’s official X account.
Maryam continued: “The thought of protected Basant may also be adopted in different cities.”
Brightly coloured kites soared by means of the skies over Lahore this weekend, marking the return of a competition after a 19-year ban that had been imposed over security issues.
Households and teams of pals gathered on rooftops, in parks and on streets for the three-day kite-flying competition.
“Everybody is happy — all of Punjab, all of Pakistan. It has turn into laborious to seek out kites and strings as a result of they bought out,” Shahzaib, a kite flyer, informed AFP.
Punjab authorities banned the competition in 2007 on account of a collection of deadly accidents brought on by glass powder-coated kite strings and celebratory aerial gunfire.
The exceptionally sharp strings, often known as Manjhahad badly injured and killed pedestrians and motorcyclists, prompting the crackdown.
However this 12 months, authorities relented, permitting the competition for 3 days however with ramped-up security measures in place in a transfer welcomed by many Lahoris and 1000’s who traveled to the town from throughout the nation to participate.
“Folks had misplaced companies when the ban occurred. After the ban lifted, I bought 20,000 to 25,000 kites,” mentioned Tariq, a kite maker.
Rights teams and cultural activists have lengthy criticized the ban, arguing that poor enforcement reasonably than the competition itself was guilty for previous tragedies.
Some official occasions deliberate to happen throughout the competition had been canceled after a suicide blast at a mosque in Islamabad on Friday killed 36 folks.
Police had been deployed throughout the town to implement security guidelines, whereas hospitals had been positioned on alert to take care of potential accidents.
Authorities additionally monitored kite gross sales — together with utilizing QR codes to trace kites — and confiscated banned supplies, together with glass-coated strings.
Bike riders positioned protecting rods on their bikes to intercept kite strings earlier than they may reduce riders.
Kite combating was the principle attraction of the competition, with contributors maneuvering their kites to sever the strings of their opponents, typically drawing cheers from neighboring rooftops.
Workshops that when lay dormant had been working once more to fulfill demand.
“Shopping for and flying kites shouldn’t be a one-time factor,” mentioned Chand Ustad, 51, string maker.
“Maintain shopping for them, preserve flying them, this helps our enterprise as nicely,” added Ustad.
