Come basant time each year and we are reminded of how empty our lives have become in the virtual absence of festivals or any sense of festivity or freedom or light-heartedness.

There is religious policing against letting people be happy in any manner on a micro level. You can’t dance or sing or create art or music or write poetry or act because the scriptures don’t allow it or at least that’s what the clerics tell you. What comes naturally to humankind elsewhere becomes a guilty pleasure for us in this country.

And then there is the larger picture where there are people like us out there ready to lay down their lives to prevent the rest of us from being happy. They have attacked shrines, the seats of solace and peace; killed artistes and attempted to kill sportsmen; and murdered little school children.

Pakistan has become a dangerous place and not just for people from outside.

It was only a matter of time that we lost all opportunities of getting together with other people. We said goodbye to our melas and international concerts, and sporting events.

One festival that was brought to a halt by ourselves was the basant. We celebrated it to the hilt and in doing so lost all sense of proportion, making it unsafe for the motorcyclists on roads. The government shirked all responsibility and banned the sport of kite-flying and that was the end of basant.

Our Special Report is a lament of sorts but in the hope that we don’t leave it at that. By raising a voice for what we have lost, we hope to regain it. And be festive and happy again.