Islamabad comes alive with historic walk on National Book Day

Pakistan News & Features Services

History of sorts was created on April 22, 2013 when the first-ever walk for the promotion of books was held in Islamabad’s Blue Area. The National Book Day has been observed in Pakistan for the last few years but it was for the first time when a walk was organized to celebrate the occasion.

   

Nearly one thousand participants, mostly students, walked from China Chowk to Dee Chowk in Blue Area, Islamabad, for raising awareness about the books and for the promotion of reading habits. 

The students and teachers from different educational institutions, alongwith the representatives of the civil society, enthusiastically participated in the walk to mark the importance of the National Book Day. Mobile libraries being run by the Bright Star Trust also joined the walk. 

The federal branch of the Pakistan Library Association (PLA) organized the walk with the collaboration of the Federal Directorate of Education, the Department of Libraries and the National Book Foundation. 

Kazim Ali Syed, Azim Khan Marwat, Mohammad Kamran, Dr Sajid Mirza, Mohammad Arif, Kamran Hameed, Dildar Khan, Bashir Khan, Raja Mohammad Ibrahim, Mohammad Umar Farooq, Raja Javed Iqbal, Iqrar Hussain Sheikh, Mohammad Tariq, Israr Ahmed and Abdul Raziq were the prominent library professionals from the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi to have participated in the walk. 

Speaking on the occasion, the Director of the Department of Libraries, Syed Ghayour Hussain, who is also the Secretary of the PLA (FB), highlighted the value of books, libraries and reading culture for the development of a nation. 

“Our country is facing formidable challenges today. We, a nation of 180 million, are blessed with priceless resources, both material and human. We can take on challenges by equipping our youth with education coupled with high moral values,” he observed. 

"Today’s walk will help in creating greater awareness about the books among youth and citizens of Islamabad and Rawalpindi in particular. It’s also a step forward towards improvement of library facilities in Pakistan,” Ghayour Hussain reckoned.