Sheikh Saqlain
SRINAGAR, June 2: Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir state, a region which has been blighted by a literary drought for several decades, on Saturday underlined the need of inculcating the habit of book reading among the new generation to keep the culture alive.
“The advancement in technology and enhanced coverage by TV channels; internet and computers have declined the habit of book reading especially in the younger generation,” Omar Abdullah told a gathering of writers, educationists, students and lovers of literature after inaugurating a book fair at S. P. College in Srinagar
Kashmir’s present generation is not so fond of reading books, he said.
“They instead watch TV or remain busy with internet or play video games on computers”, he said stressing on developing the culture of book reading among young boys and girls.”
Book reading was popular in Kashmir before an insurgency broke out in 1989 when the educational system also collapsed as youth took to guns. For want of customers, the valley’s few bookshops closed down immediately after violence flared up 1990.
But now with violence waning, the works of Shakespeare, Charles Dickens and Thomas Hardy jostle for space with Salman Rushdie and Dan Brown bestsellers in Srinagar’s new bookshops.
“A book fair in Srinagar by National Book Trust of India after 1986 is a welcome step in the direction of reviving the habit of book reading among the people,” Abdullah said.
As many as 110 publishing houses from the State and outside have displayed books on various subjects in about 175 stalls established in the fair. The fair would continue up to 10th June and entry is free of cost.
