Lawmakers in Pakistan’s Punjab impose total ban on kite fliers over safety concerns

LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — Lawmakers in Pakistan’s most populous Punjab province on Tuesday passed a law permanently banning kite flying.

The measure, which includes enhanced prison terms and heavy fines on kite fliers and kite manufacturers, comes ahead of the decades-old festival of Basant.

A ban on kite flying was initially imposed in 2005 in Lahore, the capital of the province, when at least 11 bystanders were fatally cut by wire or string made from metal or coated with glass during competitions.

The ban was extended beyond Lahore to other cities and under the latest legislation it will come into effect across the province ahead of the Basant festival, whose centerpiece is kite flying to welcome spring.

Mujtaba Shuja-ur-Rehman, a lawmaker from the ruling Pakistan Muslim League party, moved the bill in the Punjab Assembly on Tuesday, which was passed with a majority vote. Those breaching the law could face a prison sentence of between three to five years and a fine of up to 2 million rupees ($7,200).

Manufacturers of kites and strings could also face custodial sentences of up to seven years and a fine of five million rupees ($18,000), Rehman said. He said the new law was needed to save the lives of innocent people.

The centuries-old Basant festival traditionally culminates with thousands of kites soaring into the sky. Basant means “yellow” in the Hindi language, a reference to the fields of blooming yellow flowers as spring approaches.