Karachi families enjoy controversial kite flying festival

It was a family event, a woman is helping her partner to fly the Kite.

This was the second consecutive year when Karachites enjoy kite flying at DHA.

Three girls with their colorful Kites.

Hundreds of participants enjoy the day at DHA.

It was a family event where young women also participated.

KARACHI: The sky above the Defense Housing Authority (DHA) golf course was streaked with colors as hundreds of men, women, children and elderly gathered to celebrate the second annual kite festival in an affluent Karachi neighborhood on Sunday.
“This is an amazing event, which should be held across the country,” Beenish, a girl who attended the festival along with her friends, told Arab News.
“The event at DHA initially began in 2017, with the hope to take young children away from computer screens and bring families to enjoy an outing together. But it has now become a successful event as a big Karachi crowd attend this,” said Shaheen Sarang, the organizer of the event.
“You can see all eyes naturally turned skyward. However, so much is happening on the ground too. Look at the food, market stalls, kite stalls and loads of entertainment here,” Sarang told Arab News.
“It is kite flying, which is a known thing, why should be bracket this great entertaining event with a country [India]?” asked Sarang.
There is a ban on Basant, but organizers at DHA arrange the event under the name “kite flying” to avoid any legal hiccups.
“The Supreme Court has banned Basant, but as a matter of fact kite flying is not related to any religion. It’s just an event,” Imran Naveed Khan, an enthusiastic kite flyer in his sixties told Arab News.
Khan originally hails from Lahore, the second largest Pakistani city known for widespread Basant events.
The Punjab government maintained the ban on Basant this year too, so Khan traveled to Karachi to enjoy the event.
Khan suggests that instead of banning an event outright, the government should ensure that Basant and other kite flying festivals are held with strict monitoring so that chemical-coated metal twine do not endanger any lives.
“We should not be deprived of activities which are healthy for society,” he said.
Naseem Farooqi, who took part in the event, told Arab News that “we don’t care about the name, whether it’s Basant or kite flying”.
“We need such festivals in large number and in every part of the country,” Farooqi told Arab News.
“It’s what the people of Karachi desperately need. You can see the excited families, women, children and grownups all coming out here to enjoy this colorful event,” said Farooqi.
“There is no issue with organized and controlled events like this with normal thread for kite flying,” said Farooqi.
“We are very happy to fly the kites and enjoy this great evening,” Ayyan, 11, who came along with his father and seven-year-old sister Ayyeza, told Arab News.
“Kites have been used by many cultures to celebrate special events and occasions,” reads a statement issued by the organizer in a bid to counter perceptions that link the event with the Hindu religion.
On February 17, the Punjab police arrested 45 people who defied the ban on Basant, which is a popular event across Punjab, Pakistan’s largest province.