The intellectual development of a society can be gauged from the books being read by its people. Where there are no books, there is no knowledge and where there is no knowledge there is unrest, intolerance and persecution.
This fact is perhaps more true of Pakistan today than anywhere else. We are not a nation of readers. The greatest volume of books available at Karachi's Urdu Bazaar is that of textbooks. This is compulsory reading and not indicative of a knowledge quest. The next genre widely available at the bazaar is children's books followed by religious books.
In fact, when it comes to adult readership, religious books single-handedly dominate. This is aided by a growing sense of religiosity amongst the people and hence the desire to read Islamic books.
The selection within Islamic books is also limited, given that global publications are rarely translated into Urdu. The works of some of the greatest writers of Islamic literature such as Martin Lings and Leopold Weiss (Mohammad Asad) are not available in Urdu, the language read by the majority of literate people in the country.
Due to the colonial legacy of a dual language system, the elite read English books while the rest, who are capable of doing so, read Urdu books.
And whilst world-class poetry and prose is written in the Urdu language, other genres are not covered adequately.
This problem is compounded by the fact that original research is generally conducted in the West hence quality writings are usually available in English only. There is thus a great need for translating English literature into Urdu.
This is not to undermine the efforts of local writers who have commendably ventured to write on various subjects including religion, however, it may be worthwhile to note that there are few authentic books on Islamic history available in Urdu and the average person is only vaguely aware of the glorious Muslim past.
The average Pakistani's window into the greater world can be enhanced greatly by the availability of world class literature translated into Urdu. A civilisation at its peak produces literature that is groundbreaking and thoroughly educational. Pakistan has low levels of literacy and higher education apart from medicine and engineering; the field of social sciences is an especially neglected domain. Books alone can therefore fill the void created by a sub-par educational system. The Pakistani school curriculum was changed during the regime of Gen Ziaul Haq to root out history and include religion even in science subjects such as biology.
Every civilisation looks towards its historical roots to make sense of its present and to find its place in the world. The Chinese today are strongly influenced by the writings of Confucius while Indians look towards their great leaders such as Mahatama Gandhi, and an intellectual powerhouse that is the United States of America looks towards all civilisations and learns wisdom from each one of them.
Bookstores thrive in the US despite the growing importance of computers. And within most of these bookstores great books can be found from all over the world. There is likely to be a large selection of books about Islam, as well as books on every known religion and faith group.
In addition, books written by famous authors such as Bill Gates, Noam Chomsky, Bill Clinton, Queen Noor and Jimmy Carter are available for the average reader to hone his or her worldview.
The dismal state of readership in Pakistan can also be gauged by the fact that bookstores are scarce and knowledge-based books such as geo-political commentaries, historical accounts, current affairs write-ups and autobiographies are hard to come by unless bought at exorbitant prices from elite bookstores.
One commendable effort in this regard is an online book rental service initiated in Karachi by two US-returned professionals. Their project has the potential to revive the reading culture in Pakistan since the internet allows easy
access and a rental service mitigates the expense of buying books.
The duo is currently in the process of creating a database of various booksellers in Karachi which would work along the lines of an online marketplace where one can search for and buy new or old books, not unlike the US website known as eBay.
The National Book Foundation, the online book rental business, institutions of higher education, public libraries, publishers, booksellers and corporate philanthropists can connect to promote the reading culture in Pakistan — which would, in turn, significantly contribute to promoting a culture of peace, respect and tolerance for all.
