When the government first announced that Basant would be celebrated on March 12, 13 and 14, many people were delighted.

The government has announced that Basant will instead run from January 28 to February 7, a full ten days, and kite flying will be allowed in Lahore only.

A Better Way Forward The government has a simple option: return to the original dates and keep Basant to three days.

When the government first announced that Basant would be celebrated on March 12, 13 and 14, many people were delighted. The dates fell right after Eid, and for overseas Pakistanis that was close to perfect. Thousands of them began planning the same trip: fly home for Eid, celebrate with family, stay on for the kite-flying festival, and then return abroad. One journey would cover two celebrations. The weather in mid-March might have been a little warm for Basant, but almost nobody minded. Two festive occasions back to back was worth far more than a few degrees of temperature.

That plan has now been upended. The government has announced that Basant will instead run from January 28 to February 7, a full ten days, and kite flying will be........

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