Death of a bookstore

The ending to Saeed Book Bank is the end of imagination & of one of Peshawar’s last forums of art & entertainment

The one-by-one closure of bookstores has been on the rise throughout the world with even major franchises affected. However, whereas in most countries bookstores are closing due to a shift in trend towards e-books and increasing online readership, that of the Saeed Book Bank in Peshawar is more due to a lack of reading culture in the province altogether as the reason for its closure. Indeed, for a province forced into cumbersome times with a tumultuous state of security, this is a gloomy outcome.

Books are avenues to creation, imagination, entertainment and critical thinking. They contain vast knowledge about the world as the reader knows it, as well as through the lens of a fellow citizen of the world. Books broaden the mind and allow people to dream, think and formulate ideas, opinions, and understanding of life. The sad ending to the Saeed Book Bank means it is the end of imagination and of one of Peshawar’s last forums of art and entertainment. Of course, the bookstore could have also met with a future terrorist attack as the province is regularly in the line of militant’s fire and the people have had to incorporate this reality into their daily lives. It is unfair that this last source of entertainment and escape from the claustrophobic influence of the Taliban in the region could not be saved. Here, there should have been government support to save the bookstore business because it served a purpose to humanity.

Alas, we continue to hinder the nation’s progress. Instead of opening more bookstores and libraries to implement more reading programmes for adults and children in our provinces, we allow meaningful entities, such as this sole bookstore in Peshawar, go out of business. With the recent educational reforms in the province to improve access to and quality of education, this trend of bookstores shutting down may perhaps be stopped. We continue to pump more rupees in defence programmes and shopping malls, which is fine, but it should not lead to the neglect and closure of bookstores, which is a reflection of our society and evidence of its lackadaisical attitude towards literacy and education.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 8^th, 2014.

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