PESHAWAR: A large number of students, teachers and book lovers showed up at a book fair held at Agricultural University, Peshawar on Tuesday.

The three-day 9th annual book fair was organised by Islami Jamiat Tulaba (IJT) to revive the tradition of readership and make available books at low prices to the students and bibliophiles.

Publishers from Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad and Peshawar set up around 50 bookstalls, offering 10 to 50 per cent discounts. Books on variety of topics including, religion, philosophy, computer, medicines, engineering, literature, social science and politics attracted visitors.

Several delegations of students and faculty members from schools, colleges and universities visited the book fair and showed keen interest in the titles of English, Urdu, and Pashto.

Most visitors were of the view that the annual book fair was a real treat and teachers, parents and academia should encourage such positive activities on the campuses.

Elman Khan Khilji, an avid book reader, said that he was impressed by the overall arrangements of the event because students both boys and girls turned up in a large number and behaved well. He said that display of variety of titles was an eye-catching sight.

Prof Dr Bakht Jehan Khan, the vice-chancellor of Agricultural University, opened the book fair and spoke briefly to the gathering. He said that students should know the significance of books as it would always provide a fresh window of creative thoughts to them.

He said that quality reading could help students to develop critical thinking and the only way to success went through the treasure trove of books. “I strongly believe that book culture could help us find solution to every crisis. Students must focus their attention on reading those books, which could help then widen their scope of thinking and creative powers,” he added.

Awal Sher Khan, chief of IJT campus, said that his organisation had always promoted the culture of reading, research and sense of inquiry among students. He said that people, who believed in the sanctity of books, could scale the heights of success.

Shazma Afridi, a student of psychology department, University of Peshawar, told this scribe told that she and her classmates not only enjoyed the book fair but also benefited from the low prices of the titles. She added that most of the girl students from poor families could not afford course books and such events provided them an opportunity to purchase relevant titles at reasonable prices.

Published in Dawn, November 13th, 2019