Scanty Pak representation at book fair disappoints visitors

Amidst rising cross-border tension between India and Pakistan, the presence of only one distributor from the neighbouring country at the ongoing 25th New Delhi World Book Fair, has left book lovers disappointed.
With the Pakistani representation being reduced to a sole distributor this year compared to four last year, it is understandable that Lahore-based Manshurat Publishers at the Foreign Pavilion here, is attracting noticeable footfall with bibliophiles thronging the stall asking for sundry titles in Urdu.
"We are actually based in New Delhi, and act as Manshurat's distributors here. Unlike in the past, no one has come from the Lahore-based Manshurat this time, so the responsibility to run the stall has fallen on our shoulders," said Mohammad Shadab, Manshurat's distributor in India.

Other Pakistani publishing houses which participated in the fair were Children Publications, Al Hasanat Books Private Limited and National Book Foundation.
Visitors looking for books by Pakistani authors on issues like Kashmir and Balochistan, were evidently disappointed with the lack of options.
"I wanted to see the Pakistani point of view on these issues. It's sad I could not find such titles here," Manavi Ramanathan, a student of political science studying human rights abuses in both Kashmir and Balochistan, said.

Reena Zariwala, a Gujarati housewife who happened to be in Delhi and came to the fair looking for "something interesting," had a word of advice.

In a political take, she said, "I see these Pakistanis fighting for a SAARC summit or to participate in the Heart of Asia conference. They should realise that book fairs are basically multi-session conferences in which thousands of people participate."
"They are all delegates of the common people. It is sad that Pakistan is practically missing from such an event, and as happens often, it does not realise it has lost an opportunity," she said.
National Book Trust (NBT) that has organised the nine-day fair in collaboration with India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO) had attributed the scanty representation to a "lack of response from their side".

Despite the absence of any rival companies from Pakistan turning out to be profitable for Shadab, he agreed that more publishers from India's neighbour should have participated.
"I would have loved to see more Pakistani publishers at the fair. People are asking why they are not here. Nevertheless, we are expecting more crowd in the coming days," a busy Shadab told