>

Knowing they're coated in glass shards and how fast kites can go in high wind conditions, it makes sense. Especially with a long string pulling across the skin, it'll basically act like a saw using its "teeth" to cut, not the string.
I am thinking of that scene that traumatized me in my teens.. was it Ghost Ship?  Where the little girl is in a dance hall on a cruise ship and this rope or something slices though everone but her?
Edit.. Since this blew up a bit, I just watched the clip that someone posted down below.. Fantastic special effects.. Damn.  More brutal than I remembered.  Although now in my adult life I have seen ... not worse, but comparable. >

Yup Ghost Ship. Shes short so the cable was above her head >

I literally remember NOTHING else from that movie.. i have no idea if it was good or not.  May have to look it up again and see if it still holds up today. >

First 5 minutes hold up, last 5 minutes hold up if you like Mudvayne, rest is absolutely worth forgetting. >

Hold on now, its been decades since I have seen this film, but I do recall a part in the middle that my 5th grade self really enjoyed.
Edit: It was 13 Ghosts I was thinking of, not Ghost Ship >

You're thinking about the lawyer getting bisected by the glass doors, right? One of my top 5 all time movie deaths. I think it even beats the Robocop bad guy getting liquefied by the car. >

Robocop has top tier movie deaths. >

He loves shootings dicks off Robocop >

What kind of string are they using??? >

Sometimes coated in glass shards. They use it for kite fighting. 
Injuries and deaths nearly every year. >

Excuse me what? >

I think it's to take down rivals by slicing their strings. >

So the entire reason is to cut down other kite strings?
And I'm guessing in response someone has made tougher line coated in more glass.
What a fucking weird thing to have an arms race over. >

Yes. Originally, the kite strings were all cotton. But as people got more competitive, they got crazier and crazier, by adding first glass powder then metal bits and changing the string from cotton to other materials.
Other than cutting the necks of observers, they also ran into problems with the metal laced strings electrocuting people if the kite struck a power line.
It seems kite fighting can also be informal (done from rooftops of neighborhoods) and the kite festival in Gujarat is not all about kite fighting (they have other kites too). However, I imagine a lot of kite fighters show up at the Kite Festival. >


they also ran into problems with the metal laced strings electrocuting people if the kite struck a power line.

this reads like a scene from Squid Game >

When I read about kite fighting in The Kite Runner, I didn't think it could be a deadly activity. >

This is actually some really important context people not from the region don’t understand. 
Western audiences think of kite flying as wholesome fun for kids. But in the region (Afghanistan, Pakistan) kite flying is a much more serious pastime. Not a fan of the Taliban, of course, but kite flying is pretty violent, there are lots of fights and big animosities, and of course very dangerous with the razor sharp wires. A lot of people want to ban the practice still. >

Isn’t the glass or wire in the string for cutting the line of your opponent to be the last kite flying? >

Yes. Its a festival held every January where the goal is to cut other kites down from the air. It's competitive, not leisurely. >

That is messed up >

Enh it's a cultural activity I see similarly to things like running with the bulls in Spain, this one is a bit better as no animals are involved. >

Well except for the part where 6 people died >

Lol there is no “cultural event” that should include children getting their throats cut with razor kite strings. So if your “cultural event” includes child death I’m going to judge it as a stupid fucking idea. >

I don’t think it includes it, just a bonus >

i read a headline about people getting their throats cut by someone flying a kite and my first thought is that they're either very bad at it, or very good 

Police said 30 people sustained cuts and 46 were injured while falling from a height while flying kites on Saturday and Sunday 

good lord, i thought kites were like the safest most chill activity this side of crocheting and stamp collecting...apparently it's often fatal