Islamabad: Pakistanis will have to skip the centuries old Basant festival this year after the authorities banned kite flying during the spring celebration and warned violators with tough action.

The spring festival of Basant is celebrated in the entire sub-continent, and particularly in Pakistan, with flying of kites. The previous PML-Q led government had decided to promote Basant as a tourist attraction in Lahore, calling it officially the Spring Festival.

Few years back, President Pervez Musharraf had even attended two formal functions on the eve of the grand occasion in Lahore, where Basant is celebrated most enthusiastically. Now the Lahore Basant festival organisers said the event has been cancelled because the authorities have banned kite flying and warned that violators would be dealt with in accordance with the law, the Daily Times newspaper of Pakistan reported.

The organisers of the Lahore Basant Festival had earlier fixed February 21-22 as the date for the celebration that was changed to April 12-13. It has now been cancelled, the report said. The Lahore district nazims spokesman Abdual Qadoos said the authorities would not let anybody celebrate Basant as it exposed them to life threats by kite-string on roads.

He said many tragedies had happened in the country and celebrating the event was an absurd activity. "Anyone violating the restriction will have to face consequences," the daily quoted Qadoos as saying. 

Source : PTI