The annual kite-flying festival of Basant, which marks the start of spring in eastern Punjab, involves aerial duels in which participants try to bring down each other’s kites using string coated in a sticky paste of ground-up glass or metal.
Women dress in their most brilliant colors for what’s become a major festival drawing thousands of celebrants to Lahore as well as multinational companies that rent rooftops for clients and guests.
“It’s our culture,” said Shoaib Mehmood Naqeebi, a shopkeeper in Lahore. “Our forefathers were celebrating it. It’s an event where we share happiness with family and friends. It’s fun. It’s harmless.”
But Pakistan’s Supreme Court banned kite-flying nationwide in 2005 in response to an outcry over injuries and deaths caused every year by the glass-coated string. The court added that the ban could be lifted for a limited period if a city requests it.
But last month, the Lahore High Court turned down a request for lifting the ban for the Basant festival.
