Kite-Flying In Pakistan: Colorful Guillotines Of Streamer-Trailing Death

At various points I've read that kite-flying was banned in parts of the Islamic world.

Just another crazy Islamic law, I figured. Mohammad doesn't like Giant Manta Rays in the sky.

Actually, it's a great law, because this is not the sort of kite-flying you're thinking of.

Flying a kite in Pakistan is a dangerous pastime.

Already it's banned for all but 15 days of the year but a provincial minister warned kite-flyers this week that any who cause injury or death with string made from metal or coated with glass could be tried under anti-terrorism laws.

...

Kite-flying in Pakistan and neighbouring India often involves aerial duels in which participants try to bring down each other's kites using string coated in a sticky paste of ground-up glass or metal.

Every year, Pakistani media report dozens of deaths and injuries caused by kite flying, mainly of children and motocyclists whose throats are sometimes cut by metal or glass-coated string.

On one hand: it transforms kite-flying from a girly time-waster into a manly sport of aerial stragegy and combat.

On the other hand: They're decapitating people all over the g-damn place. It's like lofting OJ Simpson into the air and letting him ride the winds.

So sort of a difficult question to sort out.

So, there you go. The ban on kite-flying has nothing at all to do with some crazy interpretation of a 700 year old "holy book."

Some Islamist groups have staged protests in the past week after newspapers reported several deaths caused by kite-flying, denouncing the activity as un-Islamic.

Well, okay, almost nothing.

What's un-Islamic about decapitating random civilians, anyway? Perhaps Islam can be reformed after all.

Related: Another popular Pakistani sport, grabbing random pedestrians and sticking their faces in a tank full of slavering pirhana-fish, will be limited to just ten days of legality in June to coincide with the traditional start of Grabbing Random Pedestrians And Sticking Their Faces In A Tank Full of Slavering Pirhana-Fish season.

Thanks to LauraW. and scott.

posted by Ace at 01:35 PM

| Access Comments