KASUR: Kite lovers in Kasur have demanded the Punjab Chief Minister to allow the Basant festival and kite flying in their city, after the three-day event was successfully celebrated ended in the neighbouring Lahore district.

The Basant festival had traditionally been celebrated in Kasur about a week after the event in Lahore for decades. The colourful event successfully concluded in Lahore on Sunday the last (Feb 8).

People from all walks of life, including students and lawmakers, have urged the CM to lift ban on kite flying in Kasur before the beginning of the fasting month of Ramazan.

They say the CM should take another bold stand and allow the residents of the historic city of Kasur to celebrate Basant by flying kites under the SOPs, including use of permissible material, as enforced in Lahore.

PPP former MNA Chaudhry Manzoor Ahmed says the residents of the areas between the the rivers Sutlej and Ravi had been traditionally celebrating the Basant when the mustard flowers would bloom in the fields.

He says that Kasurites would always celebrate the Basant a week after the festival in Lahore.

He says that a committee would decide the Basant dates for Lahore and Kasur, and usually the event was associated with the Urs of Hazrat Imam Shah Bukhari.

The PPP stalwart says that the people of Lahore and Kasur, however, had their own specific styles of flying kites.

He demanded the Punjab government to lift the ban on the Basant for a limited period for Kasur as well to revive a traditional festival in the historic city.

PML-N MPA Muhammad Naeem Safdar had also raised his voice in the Punjab Assembly a few days back, demanding revival of he Basant in Kasur as well, as a part of a cultural tradition.

Kasur residents, including Jawad Ahmed, Sarwar, Akram, Umar, Asif Ali, Saifullah and Javid Ali argued that as the people of Lahore have already set an example by celebrating the festival with caution and in a responsible way, it could also be allowed for Kasur.

Sultan Ahmed and Ali Shah said that Punjab government allowed manufacturing and purchase of kites and twine in Kasur and three other districts, but did not lift the ban there in the name of public safety.

They argue that allowing the kite and twine manufacturing and sale in Kasur proves that the city had been a traditional hub of the Basant-related activities, so its residents should not be deprived of this festive occasion.

Published in Dawn, February 12th, 2026