Pakistan Extends Ban on Kites
Pakistan’s Supreme Court has extended a ban on making, selling and flying kites that it imposed two months ago after ruling the sport had become increasingly deadly, an official said Saturday.
While the court was hearing the case Friday, police swung batons and lobbed tear gas shells outside the building to disperse about 500 kite enthusiasts who tried to attend the proceedings.
The court ruled to extend the ban until it meets next on Jan. 26, said Aftab Iqbal, advocate general for eastern Punjab province.
Lahore, the provincial capital, is the site of an annual festival in which tens of thousands of people fly kites from rooftops and sports fields. Hard-line Muslims oppose the festival, called Basant, as a waste of money and consider it a Hindu festival. It is also celebrated with loud music and yellow dresses.
The sport sometimes turns deadly when people fall from roofs or are injured by metal-lined strings. The strings are used for kite battles in which people try to cut one another’s lines.
Nineteen people died and more than 200 were injured in February during Basant. The court banned kite flying on Oct. 25, Iqbal said.
He said the government was planning to pass a more restrictive law.
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