Sana Jamal
Islamabad – With the expansion of electronic media especially internet, people have parted away from books – which wise men described as ‘a man’s best friend’. And to see book-lovers gathered under one roof, and leafing through the pages of books, was certainly a pleasant scene witnessed on Monday morning at National Language Authority (NLA) of Islamabad.
To bring friends of books together, NLA organized a unique event titled ‘100 Books, 100 Guests’ which was a well-attended event. Students, scholars, literati and writers of the city gathered round at NLA to find their favourite books, because the books were available at a modest price to quench the thirst of knowledge lovers.
 |
| Reviving the interest of books at NLA book fair in Islamabad. |
Dr. Anwaar Ahmad, the newly-appointed chairman of NLA inaugurated the book fair. Speaking at the occasion, Dr. Anwaar said that “being an innovator, I will keep introducing unique ideas in the field of literature to publicize the habit of reading.” He added that due to great response of the people, such book festivals with discounted books would continue at NLA.
Prominent speakers at the books festival included Ashfaq Saleem Mirza, Roheela, Manzar Naqvi, Iqbal Faheem Jozi, Khurram Siddiqui, Dr. Salahuddin Dervaish, Kashifa Tariq, Shehnaz Shani, Humera Ashfaz. The guest speakers termed the book festival as “a breath of fresh air in literary circle of Islamabad.”
