KIBF opens with call for city to return to reading culture

Mayor Waseem Akhtar says Karachi is book-friendly and loves peace

The 12th Karachi International Book Fair (KIBF) opened at the Expo Centre on Thursday, with 330 stalls by 32 exhibitors from 10 countries.

School-going children, their teachers and people from different age groups attended the first day of the five-day book fair organised by the Pakistan Publishers & Booksellers Association in collaboration with the National Book Foundation.

Hyderabad Mayor Amin-ul-Haq as well as diplomats from Turkey, Indonesia, Russia, Oman and other countries attended the inaugural ceremony.

Prime Minister’s Adviser for National History & Literary Heritage Irfan Siddiqui was scheduled to attend the ceremony as the chief guest but he could not make it, so Sindh Education & Literacy Minister Jam Mehtab Hussain Dahar took his place.

Dahar said book fairs should be promoted because such activities always focused on promoting a culture of reading in children, adding that the importance of books would never dwindle.

He said that although the internet and modern gadgets had taken place of books in many houses, battery-operated devices were never going to be as reliable as books.

The minister lamented that book-reading culture was on the decline, adding that libraries were almost empty. “In the past people used to carry newspapers to read whether they were in the streets or public transport.”

He said that now the culture of reading books and newspapers was not as common among the younger generation or the older.

He added that the Sindh Textbook Board (STBB) had also set up a stall and put on display numerous books in addition to course books.

When asked why private schools were not including STBB books in their syllabi, he said Sindhi books taught at those schools were from the board, but some had opted for different publishers to teach other subjects.

On the subject of the government not organising book fairs, he said no one could do it without the provincial government’s help.

A KIBF official, however, clarified that they had never received any financial aid from the government to organise such events.

“We have been inviting the education minister since our first book fair as a goodwill gesture. Foreigners, particularly Germans, helped us arrange the events on a large scale. And there are few other consulates general that collaborated with us in this regard.”

Later, Karachi Mayor Waseem Akhtar said the participants of the book fair would find that the city is book-friendly and loves peace.

“Such events augment the splendour of Karachi. Despite all technological advancements, our youth should keep their association with books.”

He called it a good omen that publishers from different countries were participating in the fair, adding that it would prove to be a good opportunity for the people of Karachi to read books on various topics, such as science & technology, social sciences and religion.

“It’s good to see books around me for a change, as for the past month or so I have only been seeing and cleaning garbage everywhere.”

He said he would write his biography to let people know of his struggles and mistakes so that they could learn from them. He gave credit to lawmaker Rauf Siddiqui, who had advised him to pen his memoirs.

Renowned journalist Mahmood Shaam also shared with the participants the importance of reading books and the reasons for its decline. He stressed that knowledge could be boosted through reading books.

KIBF Convener Owais Mirza Jamil told the audience that when the first book fair was organised he was sitting outside the hall, and he had heard a few young mothers telling their children to buy as many books as they wanted. He said the memory of that day still encouraged him and his team to organise the fair on a large scale.

He informed the participants that the next book fair, KIBF 2017, would be held from December 7 to 11 at the same venue.

He said the event had brought many publishing and distribution houses together with domestic and international publishers, booksellers, librarians and institutional customers.

Publishers from Iran, India, Turkey, Singapore, China, Malaysia, England, UAE
and other countries are attending the international fair, he added.