Posted on 03/11/2006 10:36:41 PM PST by Westlander
LAHORE, Pakistan - Hundreds of kites filled the skies of Pakistan’s cultural capital on Saturday, the opening day of a traditional spring festival, despite a ban that followed the deaths of seven people killed by glass-coated or wire kite strings.
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How the heck do you kill yourself with a kite string?
think 1/8" stainless aircraft cable and a 7'X10' kite in a 35mph wind.
Talk about a jihadist's dream.....
Kite fliers reinforce strings with wire or ground glass for dueling other kites and betting on who wins.
I guess the people are telling Pakistan to go fly a kite.
From what I gather, the kitists are are thicker than fleas on Isl..., er, camels, so the abrasive portion of strings
occasionally transgresses the odd wayward participant's neck, opening a blood vessel or two or three....
I think its the latter - a culture of death - life there is meaningless. ;-(
No comment beyoned the fact that last year the really big kites that sweep all over and fly really high used steel cable s to hold them down. If you happened to be in the area when a kite swoops down and to the side, consider staying inside on this "holiday"
Those magnificent mooslims and their flying machines, bump.
WKD
weapons of kite destruction []-[]_______
I used to watch kite fighting such as this at the Newport Beach pier (back in the late 70s).
The guys from Pakistan and India were the best, and they used string with glass, to cut the opponent's line (and often retrieve the defeated kite as well).
Great sport, and I don't recall anybody getting hurt.
scroll for the midi file here.
Really! Something must be lost in the translation on this story. Why are people using this stuff in the first place and how is it killing others?
When kites are banned only criminals will own kites.
Despite the ban the skies above Lahore were filled with kites
More than 500 people are reported to have been arrested in the Pakistani city of Lahore for flying kites.
Kite flying is a traditional part of a festival marking the advent of spring in Punjab, but on Thursday the Pakistani authorities introduced a ban.
The prohibition came in after a number of deaths, mostly in Lahore, caused by glass-coated or metal kite-strings.
Families of the seven victims protested last week, demanding that a Supreme Court uphold a ban on the sport.
Similar bans have been imposed in previous years.
Threat to bikers
The spring festival known as Basant is hugely popular across Punjab, with even President Pervez Musharraf often flying down to Lahore to participate.
Many of the hundreds detained were young boys
Kite flyers compete to keep their kites in the air, whilst downing those of others.
But they often resort to using wire or glass-coated strings to cut the strings of rival kites.
When the strings fall across roads, however, they pose a danger to people passing on motor-bikes.
Metal kites can also cause short-circuits in overhead power cables, leading to heavy losses for electricity utilities.
The court had relaxed its kite ban in February this year, but on the condition that it would automatically be reinforced in the event of any more deaths.
Over the years, the Basant festival has drawn thousands of revellers to Lahore from all over the world.
Even Indian movie stars had started participating in the festival which peaks with an all-night flood-lit kite flying marathon on the eve of the festival.
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