LAHORE: School Education Minister Rana Mashhood Ahmad Khan on Monday created a confusion yet again; this time whether the Punjab government is going to allow Basant this February, or not.

Addressing a press conference on sports and tourism, neither department belongs to him though, he, responding to a question, claimed that the committee on Bansat has recommended celebration of the traditional event, and it “will be celebrated” with zeal and zest this February.

Explaining celebrations, he also said areas would be designated for kite flying and such events were necessary to project soft image of the country.

However, as the electronic media picked his pronouncements and the word spread, he retracted. Issuing, what in professional parlance is considered a corrected version of press release, he said the committee had only finalised its recommendations (implying that celebrations have only been recommended) but the final decision would be made by the chief minister.

By afternoon, he not only changed his stance but also avoided repeated calls and messages by Dawn to explain the issue.

Some days back, the list of newly inducted ministers released by the Governor House created a lot of confusion as different notifications about the number of advisers were issued.

Published in Dawn December 6th, 2016