Rawalpindi : The Rawalpindi district administration and police have warned of strict action against the violators and announced to enforce the ban on kite flying at all costs. They have intensified crackdown against kite sellers and flyers after the Rawalpindi Kite Flying Association announced celebrating Basant. A 'hide n seek' is being witnessed between violators and the police. Meanwhile, kite lovers are finalizing arrangements to celebrate Basant from February 16-17, despite a ban imposed by the Punjab government. According to the association, Basant night would be held on February 16, Thursday and Basant would be celebrated on February 17, Friday.
With the announcement of Basant by the association, kite lovers have started placing orders for spindles and kites in large numbers. Kites were being ordered from Peshawar, Abbottabad, Gujranwala, and other cities. The sellers and citizens bring kites and strings from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as there is no ban on kite flying in the province. The shopkeepers in Rawalpindi are also secretly selling kites and strings. Usman Ali told APP that Basant is a festival and the ban was not the solution to any problem. The main problem was the use of string made of chemicals and metal, which was dangerous.
He said that the administration should ban the use of chemical and metal strings and violators should be sent to jail. No action should be taken against people using simple and breakable strings, he added. According to Deputy Commissioner Rawalpindi, there was no permission to fly kites or celebrate Basant in the Rawalpindi district. He said that strict action would be taken against the violators. According to a police spokesman, the Rawalpindi City Police Officer had issued crackdown orders to all police stations across the district against those violating the rules. The CPO had issued orders to take action against kite sellers and register cases against the ban violators, he added.
The police have arrested 83 and recovered 18,020 kites and over 217 string rolls during the last 10 days. Police teams were carrying out operations in Mohanpura, Dhoke Ratta, Dhoke Hasu, Pirwadhai, Railway Colony, Gangmandi, Bhabra Bazaar, Naya Mohalla, College Road, Bani, Sadiqabad, Satellite Town, Chah Sultan, Tipu Road, Arya Mohalla, Kartarpura, Tench Bhatta, Peoples Colony, Bakra Mandi, and other areas. The spokesman said that on the directives of City Police Officers, Rawalpindi awareness walks were also organised in Sadiqabad, Pirwadhai, Rattaamral, and other areas in this regard. The district administration and the Rawalpindi District Police had also urged the citizens, especially parents, to discourage the hobby of kite flying among their children.
The citizens had been asked not to allow their children to violate kite flying ban imposed by the provincial government else strict action in accordance with the law would be taken and the ban violators would be sent behind the bars, he added. He said, the kite flying ban violators were being dealt with an iron hand and no one would be allowed to violate the law and indulge in kite flying and selling. The use of metal string for kite flying results in the loss of human lives therefore, an all-out effort was being made to stop kite flying, he added. Citizens had also been requested to report on 15 against kite flying and aerial firing so that such notorious elements could be immediately dealt with, he added.
Meanwhile, City Police Officer CPO Syed Khalid Mahmood Hamdani has directed SP Potohar Muhammad Waqas Khan to hold a meeting at Police Lines Headquarters for the prevention of kite flying, kite selling, and aerial firing. SDPOs and SHOs of the Potohar and Rawal divisions participated in the meeting. SP Potohar Muhammad Waqas Khan said announcements should be made in mosques to prevent kite flying and aerial firing.
(The News)
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