Deadly Kites

This post brought back memories of Lahore.

It was a clear and windy day during the summer of 1995. I was flying a kite with my siblings and cousins. My younger brother managed to get the kite stuck in electrical lines. I got the kite loose by sheer luck and then bragged about my mastery.

Later, one of our neighbors started flying a kite--the battle was on. It lasted only a few minutes. After some excellent coordination, we cut that kite and hollered. The sucker landed on the roof next door. One of my cousins jumped across and brought back the prize. That day was a lot of fun.

Of course, we never took kite flying to the death level. During the Basant in Pakistan, it can get quite serious. The glass-covered wire can decapitate unknowing suspects. People have run off their roofs in moments of pure excitement. Though, the solution by the Pakistani government has been asinine: They banned all kite flying.

Imagine if an entire neighborhood were to defy the law and fly kites. Should the police in Pakistani, then, spend their precious resources in fining and/or arresting everybody? It's not going to happen.

The Guardian gets this right:

The ban will please religious conservatives, who have long condemned kite flying as un-Islamic.

The Taliban had banned kite flying in Afghanistan. It perfectly fits the Islamist ideology: If it's fun, stop.