February 27, 2007	Tuesday	Safar 9, 1428

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LAHORE, Feb 26: Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi on Monday refused to allow kite flying in Kasur, Rawalpindi and Faisalabad districts.

According to an official handout, the district governments had sought permission from the chief minister to allow Basant-related kite flying in their respective jurisdictions, which was turned down.

Pervaiz Elahi said there was a complete ban on kite flying in the province, which would be strictly enforced, directing police and administration to take stern action against violators.

The chief minister also directed the local government department not to allow kite flying in any district in future.

MORE ARRESTS: Police on Monday arrested 148 people for violating the law against kite flying and seized kites and string from their possession.

According to a handout, 58 violators were arrested by Model Town police division, followed by 50 by City division, 17 by Ravi division, six by Iqbal Town division, four by Cantonment division and two by Mughalpura.

Capital city police chief Malik Muhammad Iqbal and SSP operations Aftaab Cheema said that the violation of kite flying ordinance would not be allowed.

After Monday’s crackdown, the number of arrests in the city since Saturday night has risen to 948. Of the 800 arrested till Sunday evening, nearly 600 had been charged with indulging in aerial fire.

Meanwhile, a small number of people kept flying kites even on Monday. The violations of kite flying laws were reported from Misrishah, Shah Almi, Qilla Gujar Singh, Johar Town, Iqbal Town, Walled City and GOR-I.

VICTIM DIES: A 10-year-old girl who sustained a stray bullet injury in Misrishah area on Sunday evening died in General Hospital on Monday.

Minaal, a student of class V, was present on the roof of her house on Aziz Road, near Do Moriya bridge, when a bullet hit her head.

“We were watching Basant when my daughter cried and collapsed due to head injury,” said aggrieved Saeed Ahmed, father of Minaal.

He said the family heard aerial firing from some distance.

The Misrishah SHO said they had already arrested 10 people involved in aerial fire in the neighbourhood of Ahmad 15 minutes before Minaal’s injury.

With her death, Lahore’s toll from incidents related to kite flying rose to 11 on Monday.

Punjab Health department spokesman Dr Sohail Saqlain however said only four deaths had been reported in the city during Saturday night and Sunday.

“The data has been collected from various hospitals,” he said in an official statement.

PPP CRITICAL: Punjab PPP information secretary Farzana Raja condemned the `killing’ of innocent citizens in Basant-related activities across the province.

In a press statement here on Monday, she held the rulers responsible for the deaths who allowed the Basant despite a clear-cut ban imposed on the activity by the Supreme Court.

She accused the government of violating the court’s decision and introducing a culture, which had no roots in the Pakistani culture.

She said the government had failed to stop aerial firing and the use of lethal kite twine. In view of the Samjhota Express tragedy and the murder of a minister, the government should have cancelled the Basant celebrations.

She said Basant was purely an entertainment for the poor people, but the government had commercialised it as it had now become a luxury for the elite class.

The PPP leader said the country was in the grip of lawlessness and terrorism, and the recent wave of bomb blasts had increased the sense of insecurity among the people.

She also condemned the 10 per cent increase in power tariff. She said the decrease in gas prices would be of no benefit as its consumption was minimal in summer season.