I reported on the infamous Basant festival of destruction before. This years Basant was yet another trip through madness that resulted in wanton carnage.
In 2004, 19 people met their fate during the festival and a ban was quickly passed. Thousands protested and the government finally agreed to lift the ban for this year. As part of the agreement, the government promised to take preventative measures to ensure the publics safety. They didn’t.
This years Basant claimed the lives of at least 11 people and injured over 100 more. Of the 11 people who perished, 5 were hit by stray bullets, one of which was a 6-year-old boy. 2 more kids had their throats slit by metal kite strings. 2 more people were fried when they tried to recover their kites from high-voltage power lines. Another kid fell off of a roof trying to catch a stray kite. And lastly, a mother took a dive off a roof trying to prevent her son from doing the same.
Now in my previous article about this festival I defended it and I stick by that. While the Basant may sound insane to many, this is a huge festival and it is important to those that celebrate it. But on the flipside, it is the government’s role to police the event and remove people doing illegal activities. Police did do a decent job and arrested some 700 people for various acts of stupidity.
There is also a level of responsibility that falls to the people attending the Basant. Mothers should not allow their young kids on the roof or near the kite flying in the first place. To me it would seem wise to keep a safe distance from razor-flying kites. Lastly, a little common sense goes a long way. If your kite lands in high-power lines, do yourself a favor and don’t touch it! Simple I know, but two people would better off had they headed that advice.
What do you guys think? Should this festival be allowed to take place or should the actions of the few ruin it for the masses?
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Hell yea, I whole heartedly support this activity. More people in more countries should have similar activities. There are just NOT enough opportunities for stupid people to kill themselves in enough numbers to make a difference, so the more the merrier.
I have to disagree with you michael. While id be fine if the victims were full grown adults that should know better, the majority of the people killed were either innocent children or hit by stray bullets. The fact is no one wins when innocent people die.
Sounds like a candidate for a group Darwin award….
I just look up the wikipedia article, and it seems god botherers from all creeds get into this kite frenzy, probably even atheists too. Let ‘em at it, but “won’t somebody think of the children?” Poor buggers, can’t help but be indoctrinated by there elders and think it’s all good or become collateral damage. Beware the kite.
It’s not the governments job to pass legislation on social matters – police it all you want, arrest people climbing to get to the electrical wires for trespassing, lynch people firing weapons, but otherwise leave well enough alone. Besides, if the damned thing is so dangerous then why in the abyss are these parents letting their children romp around in the madness anyway? Keep them inside and there most likely would have been a lot fewer pocket-people fatalities.
This festival is celebrated by a LOT of people.
The one city mentioned in the Wiki article, Lahore, has a population of around 5.143 million people. When you have many, many million people in fairly crowded surroundings all out celebrating something a death rate of around .000055% really isn’t all that bad, when you think about it. (I’m using an estimate of around 20 million people for that percentage. Likely a hell of lot more people then that celebrate this holiday.)
Now, I’m a 6 year old being shot is certainly tragic and unneccesary – but how many people die from bullets falling on the Fourth of July in America?
I think the government outlawing a holiday that is fairly important to so many is rather ridiculous, especially when so many of the incidents are caused by personal errors rather than ‘that evil holiday’.
I agree with DReviczky and jake. The death and injury rate is so low that it shouldn’t be an issue.
“Now, I’m a 6 year old being shot is certainly tragic and unneccesary – but how many people die from bullets falling on the Fourth of July in America?”
Are there areas of the US where guns are fired into the air during the 4th of July? Let me guess: Michigan. It is the only state our of several where I had trouble sleeping while camping because of excessive gun fire. And it wasn’t even a holiday!
Random gunfire should be outlawed and policed. That’s simple. And to those with “Darwin awards” comments… It would work, except you’re forgetting one thing: the only thing any of these people did wrong was go to the celebration. Someone else was the stupid idiot. It’s like saying that you deserved to die if you get hit by a car coming home from a new years eve party. “You were stupid enough to go out on the night when there are more drinking going on than any other.”
Islamic freaks ruining everybody’s fun…as always…in the name of Mohammed (the murderer).
Let the festival begin!!!!
لا Øول ولا قوة إلا بالله العلي العظيم
الدين الاسلامي لا ÙŠØ³Ù…Ø Ø¨ØªÙ„Ùƒ الاØتÙالات بل وتعتبر بدعة وكل بدعة ضلالة وكل ضلالة ÙÙŠ النار
والمسلمون ليس لهم اعياد غير عيد الÙطر وعيد الاضØÙ‰ ويوم الجمعة الذي يعتبر عيد اسبوعي والاØتÙال ÙÙŠ الاعياد لها اطار شرعي يتواÙÙ‚ مع كل عقل سليم واهم مظاهر الاØتÙال هي الصلاة والتهنئة وزيارة الاقارب ومساعدة الÙقراء بالصدقات
ويØرم الاسلام تعذيب النÙس وإيذائها لانها ليست ملك اي انسان
بل ويØرم ايضا تعذيب اي مخلوق اخر Øتى الØشرات مثل النملة
ولكن هذه الاØتÙالات التي ÙŠØدث Ùيها مثل هذه الاÙعال يقوم بها إناس جاهلين بالدين لا يعلمون عنه شيئا وللاس٠يدعون انهم مسلمين والاسلام بريء من اÙعالهم
ÙØسبنا الله ونعم الوكيل
(يا من تسمى ادم انت اقل من اني ارد عليك)
والسلام لأهل السلام
sara, if you want to tell the world your opinion, it helps if you do so in a language we all understand.
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