KARACHI, May 30: Hundreds of book lovers were turned away from the Sunday book bazaar as law-enforcement agencies had tightened up security on the roads leading to Frere Hall.

Booksellers told Dawn that they had already been informed by the city government that no book bazaar would be held on Sunday in view of the law and order situation. However, a large number of book lovers were unaware of this development.

Mohammad Haroon, one of the senior-most booksellers at the Sunday book bazaar, said: "Most booksellers contacted the city government on Saturday and learnt that there would be no book bazaar on this Sunday. If the government closes the book bazaar every time it fails to maintain law and order, booksellers will soon find themselves in dire financial straits."

"We are fast losing heart. The government cannot seem to make up its mind whether it wants the book bazaar to continue or not. Book lovers using public transport and motorcycles are not allowed to come here. They are the ones who are interested in second-hand books because new arrivals are prohibitively expensive," said another bookseller on condition of anonymity.

Policemen posted on Fatima Jinnah Road and Abdullah Haroon Road said that they were under orders not to allow people to go past the US consulate and the residence of the US consul-general.

The Sindh government had closed the Sunday book bazaar on Aug 24, 2003 at the request of the US consul-general. However, City Nazim Naimatullah Khan reopened the bazaar after a gap of two weeks.