Pakistan Punjab government lifts 12-year-old ban on Basant celebration

As per some of the analysts, the festival was banned due to pressure from hardline religious groups like Hafiz Saeed-led Jamaat-ud Dawah, which claimed the festival had “Hindu Origins” and was “un-Islamic”.

Representational Image (Photo by Shammi MEHRA / AFP)

New Delhi: A twelve-year-long ban on the celebration of Basant in the Punjab province of Pakistan was lifted by the government on Tuesday. The Information and Culture Minister Fayyazul Hassan Chohan said that the traditional festivals of the Punjabis of all faiths to mark the commencement of the spring season will be celebrated in the second week of February 2019. Dawn quoted Chohan as saying that a committee comprising the Punjab law minister, the provincial chief secretary and other administrative officials will be formed to deliberate on the modalities about how the negative aspects of the festival can be avoided and overcome. He said the committee would give its recommendations within a week. "This time Lahoris will surely celebrate Basant”, he was quoted as saying. The celebration of Basant which involves flying kites as a customary practice was banned due to a number of deaths caused by the sharply-polished threads used to fly kites. However, as per analysts, the festival was banned due to pressure from hardline religious groups like Hafiz Saeed-led Jamaat-ud Dawah, which claimed the festival had “Hindu Origins” and was “un-Islamic”. Chohan said that the citizens had been demanding permission to celebrate Basant for quite some time, following which the Ounjab CM Usman Buzdar had sought recommendations about it. The Supreme Court in its order had clarified that there was no restriction on holding the Basant festival and that it should be celebrated under the ambits of law. The CM has said that Basant was a cultural festival and has no relation to religion.