March 10, 2006	Friday	Safar 9, 1427

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LAHORE, March 9: The Lahore police and the city district expressed their resolve to implement ban on kite flying which was imposed by the Punjab government on Thursday evening.

Operations police chief Amir Zulfikar said all SHOs had been told to get kite shops closed in their areas besides arresting those found involved in kite flying. “To my knowledge, kite shop have already been closed.”

Welcoming the ban, district nazim Mian Amer Mahmood said his administration would do its best to eliminate the sport he described as a serious social problem.

Mian Amer said the Supreme Court had allowed kite flying with ordinary twine only but the continuous use of coated and metal wire and subsequent casualties and losses necessitated the ban.

The city district government, he said, was already trying to protect motorcyclists from the killer twine by installing free antennas. Sixteen mechanics engaged by it had installed antennas on 3,000 motorcycles during the past two days.

The district nazim said the ban, in fact, was the culmination of his administration’s drive launched more than two years ago against the hazardous effects of the sport because of the irresponsible conduct of some people.

CM: Talking to families of Nadeem Pasha and Shayan who recently lost their lives due to the kite string, at the Chief Minister’s Secretariat earlier on Thursday, Pervaiz Elahi said that cases under Terrorism Act were being registered against those responsible for kite flying related mishaps, and involved in the trade of dangerous twine.

He said that maximum punishment would be awarded to such elements under the law.

Mr Elahi said the government would sternly deal with the elements playing with the lives of innocent people in the name of recreation.

He said under instructions from the Punjab government, during the past few days a huge quantity of dangerous kite string and chemical had been seized from different cities of the province and 800 people arrested.

He said the government had also decided to register cases against the heads of families which indulged in such activities and now it was the responsibility of parents to keep a watchful eye on their children and discourage them from kite flying. The chief minister said he fully shared grief of the bereaved families. He also offered fateha for the departed souls.

The families of the victims thanked the Chief Minister and demanded that legislation should be carried out for imposing a complete ban on kite flying.

JI DEMO: The Jamaat-i-Islami held a protest demonstration outside the offices of a multinational beverage company sponsoring Basant this year.

Led by Amirul Azeem, MPAs Ehsanullah Waqas and Chaudhry Shaukat, UC nazims, councillors as well as Jamaat activists participated in the protest.

A memorandum was also presented to the company’s high-ups seeking immediate withdrawal of their sponsorship for the festival.