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Book exhibition begins at PAL
ISLAMABAD, March 21(Daily Times): Books present the true picture of a society at a particular time in
history and reading books is necessary for the mental growth of any society,
said Fatima Jinnah Women's University Vice Chancellor Dr Sayeda
Asadullah.
Inaugurating a three-day book exhibition at the Pakistan
Academy of Letters (PAL) here on Tuesday, she regretted that book reading was
gradually fading in the country, which, she said, was not a good sign for the
progress of any society.
Dr Sayeda said that people in Pakistan had been
quick to adopt many other habits, but the healthy book reading
habit.
"There was a time when people in our country read books, but now
due to television, computers and other such activities they hardly bother to
read a book, which is a very unhealthy attitude," said Dr Sayeda.
She
praised PAL for organising the Book Exhibition-2007 and urged people, especially
the youth, to read books, as it would help broaden their vision and
perception.
PAL Chairman Iftikhar Arif stressed the need for promoting
education among women. He also expressed his concern over the fast disappearing
book culture and hoped that an increase in the literacy rate would promote a
book culture in our country. "It is not possible to think of a refined society
without books and intellectuals," said Arif.
He said that such
exhibitions offered precious books at subsidised rates that would help promote a
reading culture in our society.
Many government and private publishers
displayed a variety of books on various topics such as religion, health,
heritage, cooking and literature in addition to translations of famous English
books.
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