After missing one year due to the pandemic restrictions and the conversion of the Karachi Expo Centre, its traditional venue, into a Covid-19 isolation facility, the Karachi International Book Fair (KIBF) 2021 kicked off on Thursday to the bibliophiles’ joy.
The five-day KIBF, which is the 16th edition of the book fair, will run until Monday, January 3. A large number of book lovers, students, academics and librarians visited the book fair on its inaugural day where as many as 330 stalls of various publishers, booksellers and academies featured books in various genres, including textbooks, literature, history, sciences and religion.
The book fair also has stalls of internationally renowned book publishers from Iran, India, Turkey, Singapore, China, Malaysia, the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates.
Various prominent writers, poets, and social and political personalities were also seen at the KIBF on its first day who welcomed the book fair and remarked that events like that were of great help for promoting a positive image of Karachi.
Among the visitors, there was a significant number of children who had come with their parents to buy books. The KIBF management also organised various activities for children visiting the book fair.
Among other facilities at the event, a praiseworthy feature was an ATM mobile arranged by a private bank so that book buyers had no difficulty in case they had not brought enough cash with them.
Addressing the inaugural ceremony, Sindh Education Minister Syed Sardar Ali Shah said he would write a letter to the federal government for tax exemption on paper. He also announced that a resolution would be tabled in the Sindh Assembly for abolition of tax on paper.
“If the provincial assembly raises its voice, the federal government would also come forward to address the issue being faced by the publishers," he said. He added that in this technological era, hardcopies of books were still important as people liked to read books instead of reading something on computers.
Praising the KIBF, he said book fairs on a similar model would be held in Larkana, Hyderabad and other districts of Sindh to highlight the importance of books and promote the culture of book reading.
He lamented that in 2020, the KIBF oranisers could not hold the annual book fair due to the Covid-19 restrictions. He, however, expressed the hope that the KIBF would continue to be held every year.
Former Sindh education minister Pir Mazharul Haq said he started his career as a journalist and his relationship with books had been very old. “I try to attend the Karachi International Book Fair every year. I come with children and buy books of my choice,” he said.
He asked the education minister to play his role in resolving the issues raised by the publishers regarding taxes on paper. “When I was the education minister, the publishers would complain regarding heavy taxes on papers. I am surprised that this problem still exists,” he remarked.
He added that he had come to know that the paper industry based in Lahore had established its monopoly. Everyone knew that if a paper industry is established in Karachi, everyone's monopoly would end, he added.
KIBF Chairman Aziz Khalid informed the ceremony that publications of good and high-quality books in Pakistan would only be possible when supply of cheap and high-quality paper was ensured by the government.
He suggested two ways to resolve the issue — one was to remove or reduce the duty on imported paper and the other was to increase the local production of high-quality paper. Khalid said that because of the heavy tax on imported paper, high-quality books had become out of reach for the middle class.
Books are the need of every school, college and university where 80 per cent students belonging to the middle class are enrolled, he remarked, adding that education should not be taxed. The Sindh government should suggest to the federal government that the tax on paper be abolished for the promotion of education and reading, the KIBF chairman asserted.
Poet Fatima Hassan said that the participation of a large number of people in the KIBF showed that neither was literature dying nor was this century the last century of literature and
language.
Among the prominent participants at the event were Muttahida Qaumi Movement leader Haider Abbas Rizvi, poet Shahida Hassan, Arts Council President Ahmed Shah and Directorate of Inspection & Registration of Private Institutions Sindh Director General Mansoob Hussain Siddiqui.