LHC wants ban on 'killer' thread, not Basant festival.

Byline: Shahzad Ahmad

Lahore -- The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday sought reply from the government until January 29 in a petition filed against the ban on Basant festival.

Last month, the Punjab government had ordered the imposition of complete ban on the celebration of Basant festival.

During the proceedings, Justice Abid Aziz Sheikh remarked that Basant was a cultural festival so it should not be banned in the name of precautionary measures. A ban on the festival is not the solution, he further remarked. The court stressed a need for banning the import and export of the thread that caused killing of people.

2005, the Supreme Court imposed a ban on the manufacture, business or flying of kites as a precautionary measure to prevent the loss of lives. In 2007, the ban on Basant was imposed by the apex court after the deaths of several people because of kite's glass-coated strings.

Also this year, the Lahore High Court has been moved by a citizen seeking the court order to celebrate the festival. Last year in these days, an identical petition challenging Punjab Prohibition of Kite-Flying Ordinance 2001was filed in which the court had issued notices to the Punjab government, police chief and others.

The petitioner took the plea that ban on...