Lahore residents are celebrating the Basant festival this week. The celebrations are scheduled from February 6th to 8th, after the provincial government lifted an 18-year ban on kite flying. The authorities shared important SOPs and safety measures and also urged the participants to follow them, however, despite these precautions, tragedies related to Basant are still occurring.
In an unfortunate incident on Sunday in Lahore, young sports journalist Zain Malik tragically lost his life after falling from the fourth floor while flying a kite. Zain Malik, who was a reporter for GNN, was quite enthusiastic about Basant; he was fully participating in the celebrations. During kite flying, he fell from the rooftop of a building in Gulshan-e-Ravi on the final day of Basant. He was immediately rushed to the government-affiliated Mian Munshi District Headquarters Hospital, where he succumbed to the head injuries sustained from the fall.
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Social media users have extended prayers for his soul but are also criticizing the Basant festival as a major cause of such accidents. Many have called out participants who ignore SOPs, pointing out that the walled city of Lahore is chaotically constructed, with rooftops that are particularly dangerous for kite flying. People celebrating Basant are often blindly chasing kites, putting their lives at risk. Read comments:
