Ik din rahaeen basant main - One day be spent in Basant
People who have lived in New York for some time and were not there during 9/11 were unanimous in their opinion upon return from NYC visit post 9/11, "it really feels sad to see NYC without twin towers". Mind you these people had no direct connection to the 9/11 tragedy and so their sadness and reaction looked a bit over-board to me. But not any more, for since yesterday, we are witnessing a "Basant" in Lahore without any kite flying and this has made me feel sad much the same way the New Yorkers did on their return to NYC post 9/11.
There certainly is no alternative to a human life. But being rational we should think whether there is no other way left except an all out ban on kite-flying or is it just the particular ad hoc approach that bans dual-carriage on motorcycles after any terrorist attack. If it is a failure of public policy (and I believe it is), from problem definition to execution, it better be dealt as one and not through banning a tradition and custom that has been so deep-rooted in the culture and life of my city.
To all those who are against it considering it to be a Hindu festival - the simple response is "Go to hell". My father, who for that matter doesn't know how to fly a kite, tells me that he is witnessing Basant regularly in the city of Lahore since his childhood and my grandmother, who to be honest didn't like kite-flying, used to tell me that this has been a tradition in the city even before she was born (Early twentieth century I suppose). So this festival belongs to the city of Lahore and its masses and they should be the custodians of it.
And even if a fair assessment of the situation reveals that their is no other way but the ban, even then the people of Lahore should come up with an alternative to celebrate Basant. May be a "bhangra carnival on streets" or “lighting on rooftops” or something but I will be sad if we let this festival die down at the hands of idiosyncratic self proclaimed Nazriya-e-Pakistanis and an inefficient government machinery.
There certainly is no alternative to a human life. But being rational we should think whether there is no other way left except an all out ban on kite-flying or is it just the particular ad hoc approach that bans dual-carriage on motorcycles after any terrorist attack. If it is a failure of public policy (and I believe it is), from problem definition to execution, it better be dealt as one and not through banning a tradition and custom that has been so deep-rooted in the culture and life of my city.
To all those who are against it considering it to be a Hindu festival - the simple response is "Go to hell". My father, who for that matter doesn't know how to fly a kite, tells me that he is witnessing Basant regularly in the city of Lahore since his childhood and my grandmother, who to be honest didn't like kite-flying, used to tell me that this has been a tradition in the city even before she was born (Early twentieth century I suppose). So this festival belongs to the city of Lahore and its masses and they should be the custodians of it.
And even if a fair assessment of the situation reveals that their is no other way but the ban, even then the people of Lahore should come up with an alternative to celebrate Basant. May be a "bhangra carnival on streets" or “lighting on rooftops” or something but I will be sad if we let this festival die down at the hands of idiosyncratic self proclaimed Nazriya-e-Pakistanis and an inefficient government machinery.
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