- Irrational reasons for legislation
Basant was the indirect cause of so many deaths and injuries each year it’s been banned in the Punjab since 2005, with several lapses in between. At no time, either when banning it, or at the time of the frequent lifting of the ban, have the factors that make it dangerous been systematically examined and addressed. Now, it seems that Basant is to be allowed again. Considering that the festival is around the corner this February, talk of a committee headed by the Punjab law minister to look into all aspects of Basant prior to restoring the festival is eyewash, since there is no time for any of the factors to be addressed. This, clearly, is yet another of those arbitrary directives, the way governments in this country tend to function, and the PTI always so to date.
Even harmless customs can backfire badly. Last year a ‘gender reveal’ party took place in Arizona. This is a relatively new custom where the gender of an unborn child is revealed in innovative ways. At this one, a US Border Patrol Agent Mr Dickey decided to reveal the gender of his child by firing at a target labelled ‘boy’ and ‘girl’. The target was filled with a highly explosive substance called Tannerite, and placed in a field of tall, dry grass. Mr Dickey was obviously looking for a spectacular announcement since the Tannerite blows up with an impressive blue flash. Well it did blow up, and with an impressive blue flash, but not surprisingly it took the tinder dry grass with it, and more than 45,000 acres of land encircling the site, causing eight million dollars in damage before the fire was brought under control.
In this case it is not gender reveal parties that were at fault, but the shortsightedness of the host of this particular one. Mr Dickey has been placed on a five-year probation and is to pay more than eight million dollars in restitution.
The banning of the Satanic Verses in several Muslim countries a few years ago was a ‘ban milestone’ for Pakistan. The book was not likely to be widely read but following the ban most people who read tried to get hold of a copy, making it patently clear that banning things make them attractive; in other words, that bans rarely work. Really, if something is not likely to do much damage, it is better to let it die a natural death.
But you can’t do that with the custom of female circumcision, because of which an estimated two million women every year undergo torture. Around a third of these women die of shock, excessive bleeding or infection. Circumcised women suffer agony all their lives. So even if it is ensured that those who perform the procedure use sterile instruments this is one of many traditions that do not deserve to survive.
Keeping in mind such examples, the various problems surrounding them, and how they were handled, let’s talk about Basant, which has many positives going for it. Come spring, the skies over Lahore once came alive with thousands of kites, red, blue, green, yellow, and cries of “Bo kata!” the traditional shout of triumph when one person’s kite overpowered another’s. People dressed in bright clothes, partied, danced and sang to celebrate spring. It was a communal festival, which brought neighbours together, and fellow citizens, and it created business opportunities when kite makers and food vendors earned good money. In a world with so many schisms any opportunity to bring people together in amity ought to be encouraged. Traditions tend to do that, and Basant did. But it possessed its share of danger and tragedy.
It is a lapse of organisation and law enforcement if Basant cannot be made risk free by countering its risk factors
In the Inner city of Lahore, houses are built so close together that persons can easily jump from roof to roof, and they did this chasing kites during Basant. And sometimes, their eyes on the sky, they missed their footing.
The other cause for injuries and death is the insane practice of aerial firing in celebration in Pakistan. That and the kite string coated in glass used particularly during Basant, which can and did cut people’s throats. And so Basant was banned, rightly so, until something could be done about it.
It is a lapse of organisation and law enforcement if Basant cannot be made risk free by countering its risk factors. The glass coated string needs to be made illegal outright, as well as the celebratory gunfire. And houses in the inner city to be made safer, not just for Basant but generally, since accessible rooftops without safety walls are dangerous at any time. If enforced the measures to make rooftops safer are likely to take years, which means Basant cannot take place in the inner city until then. But it is surely possible to set aside space for kite flying. There are many parks and open spaces in Lahore.
People ought to be allowed to indulge in festivals and live to tell the tale. Yet certainly lifting the ban on Basant is the result of some government official’s desire to bring back the fun days of his childhood, or the culmination of some group’s pressure campaign to allow this celebration to take place. These are irrational reasons for any legislation. Yet, this is way the government functions.
