People opposing the Basant are somewhat religious fanatics or pessimists or who do not want our depressed people to find a moment of relief and entertainment out of their pressing social engagements. Since we are closed ally of America, which has learnt to declare every divergent voice as of terrorists or socalled Al-Qaeda, you can also apply the same method and declare the Basant-opposing voices as Al-Qaeda terrorists willing to strike at your liberty and fundamental right of entertainment!
No matter what one says about the Basant Festival it is an established fact that we celebrate this event at the cost of severe inconvenience and great loss of lives of our citizens.
People fly kites with the metal wire attached with string, when it touches electricity cables after being cut off from the string, it causes a spark on the electricity wires, subsequently tripping electricity. Such non-stop tripping always results in power fluctuations, damaging power installations and electric household appliances. And that does not end here. When a stray kite with metal string touches the electricity wires from one side and kite-catchers' hand on the other side it causes on the spot death and such deaths go in vast numbers during Basant.
On Basant, the Government officials always claim that they have made all necessary arrangements to prevent the use of metal wire by kite-flyers and kite-catchers but despite all claims, incidents of deaths are occurring. Kite-catchers attach a metal wire to the string to help entangle stray kites. In the past they even used motorbike's clutch wires.
During the Basant festival citizens have to suffer unnecessarily and they are exposed to serious hazards of the celebration by Zinda-Dilan-e-Lahore. An event, which is meant to welcome the spring season by the farmers, turns out to be a nightmare for many. If you are a motorcyclist in Lahore you have to think twice before riding on the roads during the Basant season, because you never know when a stray kite's killing string would slit your throat and you would die a Basant-Death.
Excessive use of the fireworks, the display and firing and loud music are also the by-products of Basant. One never knows when a stray bullet would appear from somewhere and he would die. "This is an event comprising stray phenomenon, the stray-kites, stray kite-looters, stray-bullets and stray standards". It may sound exaggerated but it is a fact that the Basant festival has been overshadowed by vandalism and event which was meant to celebrate the spring by the farmers seems to have taken over by the multinational-culture. Multinational companies arrange special events for their prime customers; walled City's rooftops are rented on hundreds of thousands of rupees. Special invitation cards are printed out and distributed among the valued customers, government officials and the elite of the society. Television transmission is bought spending millions of rupees and sponsored programems are shown to gain maximum publicity in return for their huge investment.
Every year it is claimed that "Basant would be celebrated with traditional enthusiasm to highlight the country's image at the international level." Can we justify highlighting the country's image while spending billions of rupees on Basant celebration, while most of our population lives below the poverty line. Inflation is soaring like anything, people have to go from pillar to post for the health services and the country's rating in the Human Development Index is at an embarrassing level.
Can we get rid of all these stigmas by celebrating the Basant and claim that it would highlight the country's image at the international level? We request the Basant maniacs to maintain a code of conduct so that their entertainment could not harm others as well as to prevent the casualties, majority of whom die from throat slitting incidents, road accidents and falling from roof tops.