KARACHI, Dec 13: Despite the increasing popularity of the internet, there has been no period in history when so many books were written and published as in the last few years, particularly in the developed countries.
This was one of the many assertions made by Professor Ishtiaq Ahmed, who teaches political science at the University of Stockholm, in his keynote address at the inauguration ceremony of the Second Karachi International Bookfair on Wednesday morning. The book fair was jointly opened by Federal Minister for Education Javed Ashraf Qazi and Sindh Minister for Education Dr Hamida Khuhro at the Expo Centre.
Speaking on the need to develop a book culture in Pakistan, Professor Ahmed said Pakistan ranked third in literacy rate in South Asia after Sri Lanka (92.3 per cent) which is way ahead of India (59.9 per cent) and Pakistan (48.7 per cent).
He delved into the history of the creation and development of the written word and also highlighted the fact that religious texts were penned in classical languages like Sanskrit and Latin, but the sufis in the subcontinent used the language of the masses, which was why the message of love and brotherhood that they conveyed reached everyone – the educated and the uneducated.
Dr Hamida Khuhro, a well-known historian in her own right, said that there was a well-established tradition of reading and writing in Sindh where one could across personal libraries with rare manuscripts. She said the manuscripts needed to be published and made available to the general public. She underlined the need for the creation of a more congenial atmosphere for reading and writing. She added that although there was no censorship on books by the government there was a bit of reluctance on the part of some writers.
“Islam is the most liberal religion because you are allowed to interprete the Holy Quran and it is not left for the clergy to monopolise the interpretation,” said the Sindh minister for education.
The federal minister for education, in a hard-hitting speech, said that it was wrong to think that the history of Pakistan began with the invasion of Mohammed Bin Qasim. “It started with Moenjodaro. It is only the Islamic period which commenced with Mohammed Bin Qasim. We should learn to think; we should learn to face facts. The defeat in 1971 is also a fact,” he said.
Awards were posthumously given to the late Agha Mohsin Jafri, owner of Pak-American Bookshop, the late Ahmad Hussain, owner of Liberty Bookshop, and the late Allauddin Khalid, owner of Urdu Academy Sindh, for their contribution towards the book trade. Senior journalist Asif Noorani also received an award for being among the best book reviewers in the country and promoter of book-reading.
KARACHI, Dec 13: Despite the increasing popularity of the internet, there has been no period in history when so many books were written and published as in the last few years, particularly in the developed countries.
