Monday, February 09, 2015
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Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Lahore
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My Article published in Dawn. Name of article was BLESS US WITH BOOKS which editor replaced with A PRAYER TO ALMIGHTY.
BLESS US WITH BOOKS
THE social or political progress of a society can be measured by its education, libraries and books. Education in our society is at stake. Libraries are no more; some are not used by the public and the others are no less than a museum where one cannot touch the books.
Books are hardly available. Where they are available, only the wealthy few can buy them. The many who cannot afford them prefer to spend their meagre earnings on the necessities of life.
Books bring revolutions, which is why they are banned by totalitarian states, as they are afraid of thought-provoking books.
Thatta, where I live, once had almost 400 institutions that were a source of knowledge and education.
Now, there is not a single public library. The one at Makli Park is more a museum where one can only look at the books locked in showcases but not read them. There is no good bookshop where one can buy books.
Books are the gates to the future and the best way to tackle extremism and sectarianism. I pray that the Almighty bless us with books that are free of prejudice, hatred and bigotry and which promote peace, reason, science and historical consciousness.
Zuhaib Ahmed Pirzada
Thatta, Makli
Published in Dawn, February 8th, 2015
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