Defying gravity - 23rd February 2022

A Pakistani springtime kite festival, banned in 2007, saw scores of youngsters defying authorities from their rooftops. A vibrant and age-old tradition, Basant celebrates the gusty arrival of spring but after a slew of related accidents, government officials have prohibited the celebrations.

Piano wire and kite strings soaked in acid, were some of the tactics employed by kite flyers in their kite-fighting clashes. Unfortunately, these practices too often resulted in serious injuries and occasionally saw people dying as they got caught in tangled wires across the streets.

Kite-fighting champions and their fans would also contribute to further injuries and fatalities during their victory celebrations by firing bullets into the air, which would sometimes ricochet back to the ground.

Rawalpindi, the epicentre of the illegal festivities saw in excess of 1,500 deployed police officers surrounding the area in pursuit of illegal kite-flyers. Here's senior superintendent of police, Waseem Riaz.

Waseem Riaz: "We have deployed our teams equipped with drone technology on three different high-rise buildings. We are using technology and binoculars to identify the points where kite flying, or aerial firing is taking place."

Like kite flyer Furkan Ahmed, many participants are of the opinion that the festival should be allowed to take place and that firing guns and other such hazardous practices should be outlawed.

Furkan Ahmed: "There should be a ban on aerial firing and the chemical strings. It's not in our domain to put a ban on the chemical strings. The government should ban the manufacturing of chemical strings. We are celebrating Basant peacefully, there is no aerial firing and no brawls."

Prior to the 2007 ban, Basant was a family event where it was tradition for girls to don yellow, in honour of the springtime festivities. It's hoped by many that future generations will get a chance to enjoy this annual spring tradition.