Possibility of revival of Basant discussed

LAHORE:A long and productive interactive two-way discussion session between the government, media and kite association's representatives was held at Alhamra on Thursday to discuss the pros and cons of allowing a safe and controlled kite flying event, Basant, in the province,

The interactive mutual discussion session was convened by Talat Naqvi MPA and Special Adviser to Culture Minister Faisal Anwar. The other participants in the session which spanned over two hours included Kite Flying Association and founder of Basant Festival President Khawaja Nadeem Wayen, Ali Lodhi and others.

The media was represented by all cultural reporters of different media houses. The stakeholders discussed various means of a safe kite flying presented by the association and the cultural reporters to help soften the kite flying issue so that we can pave the way for kite flying again.

It was discussed in the meeting that the Punjab government has already constituted a 10-member high level committee which will assist the government on the revival of safe kite flying and explore means and ways for a safe revival of the centuries-old cultural festival of Basant in Punjab. The meeting also discussed the negative implications of the irresponsible acts of selling killing twine which cost many lives in many cities in the far and near past. The representative of the Kite Flying Association deplored these acts against humanity and expressed strong reservations against such black sheep among their ranks who were responsible for such acts which result in taking very valuable human lives for the sake of easy money.

The government representatives, including MPA Talat Naqvi and Faisal Anwar, who represented the provincial minister for culture, strongly condemned that inhuman and irresponsible attitudes of the people involved in selling such kite flying material which had taken many valuable lives.

However, they assured that the government was making sincere efforts to revive the highly significant cultural event which was not only our cultural asset but also provides relief to the thousands of families associated with the Basant Festival and were running their kitchens through the Basant related activities.

However, they cautioned that the government would never allow any such activity which may cause harm to the human lives but will take every measure to ensure to safety to the public before allowing the Basant Festival in the province.