Gwadar festival concludes

GWADAR: Thousands of people, including students, intellectuals, academicians, politicians, poets, singers, and others belonging to all walks of life and hailing from Gwadar and adjacent districts of Makran Division, attended the four-day book festival that concluded on Sunday late evening.

The Rural Community Development Council (RCDC), a civil society of the port city of Gwadar, organised the seventh book festival. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the annual book festival did not take place during the past two years.

Addressing an event at the festival, Balochistan Chief Secretary Mazhar Niaz Rana said that civilisation grows with the promotion of science, literature, and fine arts. “We must make children aware of the importance of literature and fine arts and make them friends with books,” he said.

Provincial minister Zahoor Ahmed Buledi, who appreciated the idea of holding such festivals, stressed the need for developing reading habits among the students. “The students should develop reading skills, which gives them the confidence of an expanded knowledge base,” he said.According to the festival’s organisers, the books worth 1.9 million rupees were sold in the four-day-long festival.