Policemen take bribe, allow kite-flying

During the spring season many citizens were seen flying kites in different areas of the city including Shah Jamal, Mozang and Bhaati Gate, despite a ban on kite-flying.

Kite-flying has been banned by the high court for some years now. After the high court passed on the matter to the Punjab government, the Punjab chief minister formed a committee on the issue, which has yet to reach a conclusion. After the ban, many people in the kite-making business suffered unemployment while the citizens lost a festival. However, the government organized a spring festival to soothe down the citizens who had been celebrating Basant for many years in Lahore, Gujaranwala, Kasur and Faisalabad.

After the court handed over the matter to the government by declaring Jashana-e-Baharan a public festival, many citizens were seen flying kites on their roofs in different areas of the city. Sources report that the citizens who were seen flying kites had allegedly been given a go-ahead by the local SHOs.

Sources report that SHOs of the local police stations at Gaziabad, Ichra, Rahmanpura, Shadbagh, Ravi Road and various other areas, allow the residents to fly kites by taking Rs 10’000 to Rs 15’000 as bribe.

Atif, a resident of Ichra, told Pakistan Today that the government should take initiatives for the families who lost their livelihood after a ban on Basant. Zahid, a local, said that citizens had been celebrating Basant for long and only recently deaths were being reported because of the use of chemical twine. He added that government should ban the use of chemical twine than putting an end the festival itself.

Police Station Ichara SHO said that the police were doing their best to stop kite-flying and had arrested many people in this regard as well.

TWINE INJURES BOY:

 Usman (4), resident of Ferzowala, was returning home with his father, Sarwar, on a motorbike when he was injured by a stray twine on Sunday in Barket Town precincts. The boy was rushed to the Mayo Hospital for medical treatment. Shaladar police refused to file an FIR, pleading that the cause of the incident was not a twine.