Hyderabad police commissioner Anjani Kumar on Monday took to social media to dismiss rumours doing the rounds, that kite flying had been banned in the city, on the eve of Sankranti.
“I want to make it very clear that there is no ban on flying kites. Sankranti itself, is a festival of kites, so how can anybody think of banning it? There is only suggestion and regulation that one should be careful that it should not go into the premises of some religious structures. That is the spirit of the suggestion made by the police,” he said in an audio note.
“Sankranti is a festival of joy and fun in which youth fly kites. My suggestion is that one should be careful and when you are flying kite on a rooftop, please take care that there is a railing and be alert of your surroundings. Again, I wish all the citizens a very happy Sankranti,” he added.
SRI.ANJANI KUMAR,IPS, CP HYD MESSAGE ON KITE FLYING pic.twitter.com/6vFic9dFA6
— Hyderabad City Police (@hydcitypolice) January 14, 2019
The senior police officer had to issue the clarification after a few people took to Twitter and claimed that the Hyderabad police had issued a blanket ban on flying kites during the festival.
“Kite-flying banned during Sankranti festival in Hyderabad ...... Slowly, slowly, slowly the pagans were removed from Roman cultural life. Note that I have nothing against reasonable safety restrictions. But why only a certain day? As we saw with Jallikattu, these restrictions seem always tilted and have a suspicious tendency to expand,” Sanjeev Sanyal, principal economic adviser in the Union Finance Ministry, tweeted.
Kite-flying banned during Sankranti festival in Hyderabad ...... Slowly, slowly, slowly the pagans were removed from Roman cultural life. https://t.co/N3V0MPprcf
— Sanjeev Sanyal (@sanjeevsanyal) January 13, 2019
“Kite-flying banned during Sankranti festival in Hyderabad Slowly & slowly #Christoislamic Forces are taking over. The first signs are here to see for everyone.. Another decade & they will control everything & BAN everything Hindu (sic),” Ritu Rathaur, another prominent Twitter user with more than 1,00,000 followers, said.
Kite-flying banned during Sankranti festival in Hyderabad
— ऋतु राठौर (सत्यसाधक) (@RituRathaur) January 14, 2019
Slowly & slowly #Christoislamic Forces are taking over.
The first signs are here to see for everyone..
Another decade & they will control everything & BAN everything Hindu https://t.co/eNsOyrLwEp
Both the Twitter users had shared an article by PTI, which seemed to have misinterpreted the police’s order for regulation. Many news outlets had carried the PTI copy with the misleading headline, 'Kite flying banned during Sankranti festival in Hyderabad', which seemed to have set off the rumours.