All Pakistan Paper Merchants Association (APPMA) Saturday called for revival of kite flying festival.
The APPMA President and founder of Kite Flying Festival in Pakistan Khawaja Nadeem Saeed Wayeen told media here that the festival would help highlight soft image of the country and also generate huge revenues for provincial government for its development projects. He demanded that a high-powered committee headed by MNA Hamza Shahbaz Sharif should be formed at the earliest.
Wayeen said that proposed committee would not only supplement Punjab Chief Minister ‘s efforts to save precious human lives but also revive the dying component of tourism industry. “I have already suggested the Punjab government to declare kite flying zones well out of the cities/populated areas,” he mentioned.
The APPMA President said that kite-making had attained the status of cottage industry and providing employment to thousands of women who were earning handsome money for their bread and butter by making kite at their homes. Now these women and their families were sitting idle because of a complete ban on kite flying festival, he said, asserting that around 150,000 people in Lahore, 100,000 in Gujranwala and 80,000 in Kasur had been affiliated with kite making industry.
He lamented that some very sad incidents took place due to involvement of elements with the vested interests and cultural activity became a bloody game. He was of view that the people responsible for making this festivity into dangerous game should have been dealt with an iron hand instead of imposing ban on the cultural festival.
The APPMA President appealed to Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif to review rules and regulations for kite flying, and direct the authorities concerned to declare kite flying zone at safer and open places outside Lahore and other cities to revive employment of millions people and restore country’s soft cultural image abroad. The revival of the kite festival would promote tourism and also attract foreign investment into Punjab, he added.