LAHORE – The cricket mania has swept way the Jashan-e-Baharan held regularly every year under the aegis of the Pakistan Horticulture Authority (PHA), leaving no option for the Punjab government but to cancel the event in all but name.
“The Punjab government has not made the official announcement to cancel the traditional spring festival to avoid massive criticism by public,” a senior PHA official told Pakistan Today. “The simmering obsession around the Cricket World Cup 2011 outsmarted the Jashan-e-Baharan as multinational companies, regular sponsors of the spring festival, had engaged their funds in cricket publicity ads a month before the launch of the World Cup.”
“The sponsors excused from joining the Jashan-e-Baharan festivity due to prior commitments to the Cricket World Cup,” the official maintained. Culture and Information Secretary Mohiyudin Wani said that sponsors were preoccupied with cricket festivities and could not be available for the event. He, however, said that the spring festival was still being organised, although not on a large scale, on various levels.
Punjab government spokesman Pervaiz Rashid said that Jashan-e-Baharan which showcased the mega event of Canal Mela could not be held but different departments had been organising the festival on their own. Another official in PHA said that a lack of planning in engaging sponsors and security concerns impeded the gala event.
He said that PHA DG Abdul Jabbar Shaheen’s lack of interest in the event was also another reason. He said that Shaheen, recently given additional charge of Director General of LDA, had shifted all his focus on LDA affairs. “Shaheen seldom comes to the PHA office and he does not know how to start official work in this regard,” the official added. He said that PHA invited Jashan-e-Baharan sponsors for biding on February 2 but nobody turned up.
This happened for the first time that sponsors remained alienated, he pointed out. Revealing the reason behind the sponsors’ detachment, he said that PHA had never bothered to invite multi-national companies for open bidding. In regular exercise, PHA used to meet multinational companies, holding parleys, engaging them in talks and woo them to sponsor the event. But this year, the PHA DG advertised and sought bidding for February 2.
As it was expected, not a single sponsor bothered to put in their bids. PHA Director Monitoring and Operation Shahid Nadeem blamed the poor law and order situation for not holding the spring celebration. He said that due to same reasons, the event also could not be marked in 2008 and 2009. During 2010, the city was rocked more than five times by terrorist attacks and people had already seen a blast in Urdu Bazaar in 2011.
Hence, it seems that the security situation was not conducive for the Jashana-e-Baharan. He said that Jashan-e-Baharan 2010 started on March 1 and concluded on March 31 The festival attained international acclaim wherein a large number of visitors from across the world participated.
The spirit behind this festivity was to provide entertainment and recreation to the general public during the spring season. The gala event of Jashan-e-Baharan cost Rs 10 million that the sponsor namely Ad sells submitted to PHA.
“The city was decorated with lights, flowers, steamers, cutouts, the Canal Mela and a number of schools-based national songs and mural painting competitions, including sports oriented and tree plantation competitions between nurseries were arranged,” he added.
