Pakistan's kite flyers defy ban to keep sport alive

The kite business is thriving in Pakistan's populous Punjab province, despite a ban on sales and a police crackdown on manufacturers, as most sellers have moved online, industry insiders and authorities said. On April 10, a guy was arrested in the eastern city of Lahore, Punjab's capital, for selling kites and strings online, a task deemed illegal since a 2005 ban was imposed on celebrating the boisterous spring festival of Basant. After released on bail the very next day, the retailer, determined by police only by his first name, Salamat, said his e-commerce business was "thriving" regardless of the ban. "I receive orders online, sometimes on the telephone, from many circles, and the business enterprise keeps on thriving despite the ban on kite-flying."

the suspect was quoted by investigators as saying.

"My customers range between shopkeepers to elite people."

Kite-flying is definitely a passion in South Asia, and for many years the Basant celebration would transform Pakistan's skies right into a glittery kaleidoscope of hundreds of thousands of kites to commemorate the advent of spring.

However in 2005, the Supreme Court banned the celebration after 19 persons died from injuries due to stray strings.

For the reason that year, kites and strings worth over 1 billion Pakistan rupees ($6.5 million) were sold on Basant day in the eastern city of Lahore, the guts of the festival.

Authorities say that the condition arises when kite-flyers indulge in duels, using thick strings or razor-sharp wires reinforced with glass and chemicals to allow them to better attack opponents' kites and slice their strings.

Stray strings have already been recognized to knock out power lines and, sometimes, tangle around a human neck or limb, creating serious injury or death.