March 10, 2006	Friday	Safar 9, 1427

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LAHORE, March 9: The go-no-go vacillation of government over allowing kite flying and the related trade has left those in the business at the mercy of police which were allegedly using the opportunity to mint money.

“Some 1,360 people have been booked on charges of selling sharp thick twine and nylon thread (tandi) in Lahore till Thursday noon,” a representative of the All Pakistan Kite-Flyers Association claimed.

“The city police officials are implicating those kite traders in fake cases who refuse to grease their palms. They (policemen) just fill in the name, address and other details of the person, who refuses to meet their demand, in the roznamcha after arresting him,” he said.

The SHOs of all police stations in the city had been directed by their high-ups to book at least 10 people daily on charges of keeping sharp twine, metal wire etc, he alleged.

The Punjab capital has 76 police stations and 10 police posts.

All shutters in the two wholesale markets of kites and thread in Mochi Gate and Baghbanpura have been down for the last three days for fear of raids.

“The livelihood of over 150,000 families in the city is at the stake. The condition of daily wagers like manjhawala and kite makers is becoming pathetic with every passing day,” he said.

A Majority of kite traders in streets and minor arteries of Sabzazar, Gulshan-i-Ravi, Rajgarh, Nawankot, Iqbal Town, Samanabad, Ichhra, Sanda, Shadbagh, Misri Shah, Wassanpura, Shalamar and other congested areas of northern Lahore, besides parts of the Walled City, had removed their stocks from their shops, he said.

Meanwhile, a number of kite traders of these areas seconded the assertions of the association representative.

“I have reached an ‘understanding’ with the SHO concerned to continue my business. I have been delivering the money either at a private house or a police picket after Isha prayer daily to a middleman since Monday last in order to save the hundreds of thousands of rupees I have invested in kites and thread,” owner of a shop said.

Another trader, who felt sorry for himself, said: “I have been in the business for over a decade. Everyone in the locality knows I have never sold chemical thread or metal wire. I have a licence issued by the city district government of Lahore, but still I have to bribe police for carrying out my business.”

A police spokesman, however, denied the allegations levelled by the kite flyers association and traders. “We have directives not to spare anyone found trading in sharp twine or flying kites with it or with a metal wire.