Pakistan’s kite festival falls to unrest

LAHORE, Pakistan – A festival that draws thousands to Pakistan’s cultural capital to usher in spring by flying colorful kites has fallen victim to the country’s violence and political turmoil.

Lahore’s annual Basant celebration usually occurs over a weekend in February or March. But this year, spring came with no sign of the festival.

Sohail Janjua, a city government spokesman, said Basant was first postponed because of national mourning for former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who was assassinated in late December. The Feb. 18 parliamentary elections further delayed the festival. And it was indefinitely put on hold after three suicide attacks struck Lahore last month, including two that killed 27 people and wounded more than 200 on March 11.

“How can we ignore the deaths of innocent people to celebrate anything?” Janjua asked.

In the past, Lahore’s youth sent thousands of brightly colored kites into the sky during Basant, which means yellow in Hindi – a reference to the mustard flowers that blossom in the region in early spring.

But even before the recent bloodshed and political upheaval, the region’s kite-flying tradition was threatened. Religious conservatives oppose the festival because it is a reminder of Pakistan’s pre-Islamic past and say it encourages drinking and dancing.

Others oppose the festival and kite flying on public-safety grounds. The activity was banned in recent years in Pakistan after several people were accidentally killed by low-flying kite strings coated with glass.

Kite-flying duels involving betting are popular during the festival. Some people reinforce strings with wire or ground glass to give them an advantage in the congested sky.