Kashmir stall is a hit at the World Book Fair in Delhi

Books on political scenario, history, conflicts and peace issues of the people of Kashmir and a stall providing legal aid in the form of story books attracted maximum crowds at the World Book Fair on Saturday. 

Around 800 publishers showcased their work at the fair being held at Pragati Maidan from January 7 to January 15. The stall set up by the Kashmir Book Trust saw the bibliophiles buying books to understand the ground reality of the violence-hit valley. The organisers aim to spread the message of peace and bring to light the feelings of the Kashmiris who have seen turmoil since the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander-in-chief Burhan Wani who was shot dead on July 7, 2016.

 “We have come here to spread the voice of the people of Kashmir who just want peace. We have various books written on the ongoing turmoil, especially in the last six months. We aim to highlight the problems of the innocent youth who have been affected due to the politics in the state,” said Mudasir Ahmad, member of the Kashmir Book Trust.

The stall also had posters of youth who have suffered from pellet injuries during the unrest after Wani’s death.

The nine-day fair is based on the theme Manushi which depicts writings on and by women and has over 800 participating publishers from across the country and abroad.

Considered as Asia’s largest fair, it was inaugurated by Mahendra Nath Pandey, Union Minister of State for Human Resource Development.

Another stall set up by the Law Ministry offered books explaining technicalities of law to the stakeholders in the form of story books. The counter had books in Hindi which provided legal aid to the underprivileged in the form of story books.

The Access to Justice for Marginalised project was started 10 years ago by United Nations Development Project (UNDP) and Department of Justice and caters to legal aid to the illiterate and the underprivileged.

Under the project, workshops are conducted in villages where volunteers explain the legal jargons through simple stories which the people can understand. More stories and books are dedicated to women as they are the major sufferers. Books like Kanoon ko Janen, series of books compiled by State Institute of Rural Development, Lucknow and materials from State Resource Centre, Jaipur.

“The laws have to be understood by the stakeholders. For example- the Right to Education Act, 2009 would not be understood by the children easily. So we come up with jingles, street plays and story books to explain the technicalities of the law,” Shikha Hundal, Project Officer UNDP said, adding, the counter would also have advocates for the next nine days who would extend legal help to the people.

In the meantime, Children’s Pavilion was a centre of attraction for the kids. Activities like poetry by students, skit on stop child labour and performances by visually-impaired children were lined up for the visitors. Most of the stalls had a digital counter in tandem to the ‘Digital India Campaign’.

The fair is also celebrating 60 years of National Book Trust (NBT) at the Special Pavilion, featuring an exhibit titled, This is No Looking Back. The international segment saw the participation by over 20 countries including China, Egypt, France, Germany, Nepal, Iran, Poland, Japan, Spain, Sri Lanka among others.