Book lovers throng Expo Centre on KIBF’s third day

Thousands of people thronged the Karachi Expo Centre on Sunday as the 14th Karachi International Book Fair (KIBF) 2018 entered its third day.

The event, which has been organised by the Pakistan Publishers and Booksellers Association, will continue till Tuesday (tomorrow). As it was a public holiday, it was convenient for many families to visit the book fair on Sunday. People from various areas of Karachi attended the KIBF and purchased a large number of books from stalls set up in three halls of the Expo Centre.

On its third day, the book fair also featured various activities such as Na’at Khawani, speeches, drawings, and other educational activities. Several political figures were also among the visitors, including Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Karachi Emir Hafiz Naeem Ur Rehman and former Muttahida Qaumi Movement leader Jamal Nasir.

Speaking at the exhibition, the JI Karachi emir said books enhanced brain capacity and developed wisdom in readers. Rehman also expressed satisfaction over sale of a large number of books on religion during the KIBF. He dispelled the impression that Pakistani people were not interested in religion.

Rehman also called for the government to support such events. The government did not take ownership of the KIBF, he said. The JI Karachi head also recalled that the book fair was also organised during those years when the law and order situation in the city was far from ideal.

A day earlier, the book fair was attended by senior leaders of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Syed Khursheed Shah and Qamar Zaman Kaira, and JI Sindh chief Muhammad Hussain Mehanti.

Thoroughly praising the annual event, Shah said the KIBF had become a mega event for book lovers and it was letting people connect with books again. The PPP leader lamented that the education system in the country had been deteriorating and people were ignoring books.

The PPP leader also said book lovers never faced difficulties in their lives. Kaira stressed the need for restoring people’s interest in books which had been unfortunately declining. He appreciated the KIBF organisers for holding the book fair to promote book reading culture in society. Ignorance was a major problem for Pakistan but also Muslim Ummah and other countries, he said.