Why did Pakistan Punjab Province imposed a complete ban on flying dragons? | Art and culture

The most populous province of Pakistan in the Punjab Province imposed a complete ban on the dragon flying before the centuries-old Basant-Koji festival marks the arrival of spring-dear concern for public security.

The legal amendments adopted by the Provincial Assembly impose a grave fines and longer prison conditions for the abusers who have previously been in force, to disappoint the revelators flying the dragons as part of the centuries-old tradition to welcome the spring-Proslave that stands for joy, color and beauty of nature.

The authorities defended the latest measure, saying that the use of metal and glass wires caused injuries and even death, making dragon flying danger for public security.

But critics say that the ban is unjust and that the popular cultural festival that people of all faiths in the southern Asian nation they celebrated are not respected. Some experts suggested that authorities could regulate the use of dangerous wires instead of a direct prohibition, which influenced the life of thousands of dragon producers.

So why did the authorities take such difficult measures and do they prevent people from flying dragons?

What is the new law that imposes a complete ban on flying the dragons in the filling?

Last month, the Punjab Assembly officially passed the Law on Flying of the Dragons in Punjab, 2024, which introduced enhanced prison conditions and major fines for the flutes of the dragon, manufacturer, carrier and seller.

The law represents an amendment of the Law on the Prohibition of Flying of the Dragon of 2007 and made the flying of dragons without misdemeanor.

According to the previous law, individuals are caught in flying dragons could face up to three years in prison or be fined up to 100,000 rupees ($ 360) or both. I can now face up to five years in prison or fined two million rupees ($ 7,200) or both. If a fine is not worth it, an additional year of prison may be added.

Dragon manufacturers and carriers can face between five and seven years in prison or fines between 500,000 (1,800) to five million rupees ($ 18,000), together with an additional two years in prison after not paying a fine. The previous law aimed at developing, selling and trading dragons, but not the transportation of dragons and dangerous wires of dragons.

The law prohibits the transportation of “Dragons, metal wires, nylon ribbons, any other threads lined with sharp maanjha [glass-coated string] or any other harmful material for the purpose of flying a dragon. “

The new law also includes certain penalties for minors. The first minor offense will result in a warning and the second offense in a fine of 50,000 ruins ($ 180). A third offense would attract a fine of 100,000 holes ($ 360), while fourth offense will lead to a prison under the Junior Judicial System Act 2018, according to a summary published by the Punjb Police via the Internet.

Previous laws enabled flying dragons after the authorization of the authorities on certain occasions and tried to regulate the production, sale and trading dragons with smaller punishment for abusers.

Mujtaba Shuja-Ur-Rehman, the legislator of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League party, said that the fines, which will be applied throughout the province, were needed to save the life of innocent people.

The last measures came into force before the Basant Festival, the celebrated fifth day of the lunar month of Magha. This year’s Spring Festival began on February 2, but clubs flying Kite have committed to defying the ban.

Is Punjab before flying plates on the dragon?

That. The Government in the Punjab Province issued a number of executive commands and prohibitions to try to break the dragon from the early 2000s, including the Emergency Law in 2001.

In 2005, the Supreme Court of Pakistan ordered the Punjab Government to regulate the production, trade or even flying of dragons in response to deviation from dozens of injuries and deaths that caused glass, metal or nylon wires every year.

In 2005, the provincial capital of Punjab Lahore imposed a ban on flying a dragon in order to deal with what the highest court said it was a “threat”.

What other actions have taken to discourage the flying of the dragon?

Over the years, criminal, judicial and legislative measures have failed to prevent the revelations from flying.

The authorities also crept into religious leaders to drive home a point that the flying of the dragons is dangerous. Religious scholars have issued a Fatwa or Islamic edict in a counseling with the Lahore police, declaring a dragon flying to the non -Islamic.

Those-motorcycles on motorcycles and air shooting, other usual activities during the Basant celebration, were also declared non-Islamic. The judgment was based on the Qur’anic verses that emphasize the preservation of human life and forbidding the acts that endanger it.

Police broke the Dragon manufacturers, and Punjaba police seized more than 100,000 dragons in Lahore-Regional Center for Dragon-Since the Year.

Authorities also organized campaigns for awareness of the risks of the dragon flying.

How dangerous is the flying of a dragon in the filling?

Dragon flying competitions, which include participants trying to cut the dragons to each other with glass or metal coated wires or nylon cables, take place in densely full of quarters in cities across Pakistan.

Solid competition has transformed a centuries-old tradition into a deadly sport because some of the Dragons flyers died falling from buildings, while sharp wires are known as maanjha-in-glass paste caused the death of a passerby or cyclist.

In addition, if the wire is coated with metal, it can carry out electricity if it touches transmission lines, potentially causing electricity, short compounds or fires. This can take hours to return to the already energy country. In some areas, network networks are excluded to prevent short joints, causing disorders in regular activities.

What is the answer to the ban?

The flying groups for the kite were defiant, and the Association of Flying Dragons Rawalpindi said he was planning to celebrate Basant on February 13 and 14.

Sheikh Saleem, former Lahore chief of the Federation Federation for the Dragon, told BBC Urdu that instead of fully forbids, officials should be more proactive in taking measures against the manufacturer of dragon wires coated with glass.

However, Khalid Zafar, who runs a law firm based in Lahore, says that the implementation of this type of regulations would require more resources, which police force is missing, and the government may not be ready to invest.

Police also struggled to break the dragon manufacturers, some of which are flexible political ties.

But some media organizations supported the Government’s decision. Tribune’s newspaper called the measures “a bold but necessary measure that a priority of public security in relation to tradition”.

“While the Basant Festival has a gentle place in our cultural heritage, it is crucial to recognize that safety must be in the first place, especially when tragic incidents have interfered with the joy of this colorful celebration in the past,” the introductory said in January 25.

“The passion and enthusiasm surrounding the basent are undoubtedly beautiful, but they cannot overshadow the responsibility we bear to the safety of our fellow citizens … critics of prohibition claim that it violates cultural expression, but culture must develop to reflect our values, including the most important importance of human life. “

Mirza Ifikhar Baig, 85, Lahore’s resident, was upset by the prohibition, saying that “the flying of the dragon was a sport for us.”

During the day, people would fly colorful dragons that decorated the sky, and at night they were white that were fluttering like stars, Baig told Al Jazeera, reminiscent of the ceremony.

“People would make special dishes like carrot pudding and gather,” said Baig, who was a passionate leaflet of the dragon during your youth, growing up in Lahore’s Walled City.

But the 85-year-old Lahore resident said in their time, people used only safe, cotton dragons, unlike metal or glass wires that today are a danger of public security.

What was the economic effect of the prohibition?

Some analysts emphasize the effect on the producers of dragons and the resulting loss of funds for the lives of thousands of workers.

Recent information on the scope of the industry is rare, but in 2004, the activities related to Basan have earned about 220 million rupees ($ 790,000) in Lahore only in Lahore, and created a job worth up to three billion rupees (some $ 7 million )- Broad, he uses workers and cottages.

The Dragon Making Industry employs about 1.5 million people across Pakistan.

Most of the industry workers are women, and the ban not only will make them without a job, but will also affect related industries such as bamboo, nihit, glue and paper, experts say.

“Unfortunately, since most of the people associated with the dragon trade were poor or at home, they were unable to raise their voice against the flight law against the sting,” Zafar said.

What is the Basant and where is it celebrated?

Punjab was historically known for its centuries -old base festival, which celebrates the arrival of spring and agricultural products. Basant means spring in the tongues of Hindi and Punjabia.

The Punjaba region, located in India and Pakistan, is known for its fertile country and vibrant culture – and the elevation of colorful dragons in the sky is a reflection of it.

Lahore and Kesur in Pakistani Punjab and Amritsar across the border in the Indian Punjab have been some of the key cities where the basant has been traditionally celebrated for centuries.

Raza Ahmad Rumi, Director at the Park Center for Independent Media on Ithaca College, says the sidewalks on the fluffy fluff-which is the central part of the Basant Festival-are a cultural wipe.

The festival has only become a “cultural marker” in the city [Lahore’s] The landscape, but it was also an involvement of an event that brought together the rich and poor, as well as a variety of communities and age groups, making it the continuation of Lahore’s “pluralistic culture,” he told Al Jazeera, referring to the city mixed demographics (Sikhs, Hindus and Hindus Muslims) before the division of the Indian subcontinent 1947.

“[The ban] The government and then the court was a large rupture, I would say, in common cultural values ​​between India and Pakistan, especially on both sides of the Punjab region, “he said.