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International book fair at Karachi Expo Centre
KARACHI, Dec 01, 2007: Spread over five days and three halls of the city's Expo
Centre, the Third Karachi International Book Fair kicked off on Friday to give
the metropolis's bibliophiles a chance to browse through publications from
different parts of the world, as out of the total 220 stalls that have been set
up at the exhibition, 48 belong to foreign publishers and booksellers, the
majority of them Indian.
The fair features a cornucopia of books ranging
from different technical and scientific manuals to volumes on history, religion,
the arts and encyclopaedias. Particularly outstanding are the books and
educational material - both in Urdu and English – for children that are
available at the fair, as perhaps the area of children's books is one of the
most neglected in the generally pitiful state of Pakistani
education.
Apart from local exhibitors and representatives from India,
German, British, American, Singaporean, Greek and Malaysian publishers and
booksellers are also participating in the book fair.
The fair was
formally inaugurated on Friday morning by the organisers, the Pakistan
Publishers and Booksellers' Association (PPBA). Though the Sindh governor was
scheduled to be the chief guest, he had sent his regrets due to "pressing
engagements" and was replaced as chief guest by former speaker of the Sindh
Assembly Abdullah Hussain Haroon, who delivered the keynote address.
Mr
Haroon regretted the fact that all education-related activities in the country
did not get the attention they deserved. "The founders of this nation were
greatly attached to education, whereas today health and education are extremely
neglected. Even from the religious point of view, the first revelation from the
Lord was 'read'," he said.
As an example of this neglect, he cited the
case of the Shah Abdul Latif Library in Trans-Lyari, which had been set up
during Z.A. Bhutto's government. He claimed the library had been torn down and
replaced by an office of the excise and taxation department. He also took a jibe
at the Sindh governor for not attending the event. "If we had a Jinnah or a
Gandhi alive today, they would not have avoided a function like this for
anything," he said, adding that "if we can spend a million rupees a day on the
Prime Minister's or President's House, why can't we give that to publishers to
subsidise printing?"
Earlier, Iqbal Saleh Mohammad, convener of the book
fair, urged the government and civil society to support the fair. He repeated
the criticism of corporate sponsors he had made at a previous press conference,
saying that the corporate sponsors' attitude was "disturbing" considering the
"noble cause", which was to promote literacy.
While praising the National
Book Foundation, which has helped organise the fair, he added that the
electronic and print media could help the cause of literacy by lowering
advertising rates, as he said government ads and those of music and
entertainment concerns enjoyed lower tariffs.
During his vote of thanks,
Aziz Khalid, chairman of the PPBA, said that the success of the previous fairs
had proven that the people of Karachi were great lovers of books and claimed the
present book fair was the biggest in the history of Pakistan. He urged the
government to allow the duty-free import of good quality paper, especially for
textbooks, to further the cause of education. He also announced that the next
Karachi International Book Fair has been scheduled from Dec 26 to Dec 30,
2008.
Three senior people who contributed to publishing were given awards
at the conclusion of the ceremony. Mirza Jamil, who came to the event, was
recognized for his invention of the computerised Noori Nastaliq font, while
posthumous awards were announced for Malik Noorani, who set up the
Maktaba-i-Danyal and the Pakistan Law House, and Shaikh Shaukat Ali, a leading
bookseller and publisher of Karachi's Urdu Bazaar.
German Consul-General
Hans-Joachim Kiderlen also attended the inauguration.
The book fair
concludes on Dec 4. Timings are from 10am till 9pm, while entry is free. Dawn
Your Comments
"need urgent help. sir i am a student of f.s.c part two and want to attend the book fair at epo center karachi.please guide me is there any restriction for students to attend the book fair .i heard that boys are not allowed to attend it without family.please guide me .urgent.timings and others matter."
Name: irfan saeed
Email: fsirfan23@yahoo.com
City, Country: karachi, Pakistan
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