=> KARACHI, Dec 13: While the government makes tall c
KARACHI, Dec 13: While the government makes tall claims of educating the citizenry in order to raise living standards and make young people less susceptible to being inveigled into criminal activity, the residents of Old Golimar lament the fact that the area’s only library was taken over by various government departments and after a fire, left in ruins.
Built in 1976 by the then chief minister Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi, the Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai Library in Site town has seen many upheavals. Currently housing the district offices of property tax, the once popular library-cum-community centre is today a shell of its former self. There is little that connects it to its former incarnation as a centre of learning that is so fondly recalled by the residents of Old Golimar, who have been struggling to restore its status for many years now.
“Crime is one of the major problems in this area and when the library was functional, a lot of young people used facilities that we knew were healthy and informative,” a resident of the area told Dawn. “Because of the way in which it facilitated learning, a number of students from this area went on to college and obtained graduate degrees. With the library closed, there is nothing for them to do but loiter in the streets where they run the risk of being exposed to undesirable elements.”
The first setback suffered by the library came in 1995, when the offices of the now-defunct DMC West were set up on the premises. This later provided a precedent when the city government housed the offices of the Site town administration in the Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai Library in 2001. This severely restricted the space in the 30-room building and the library was confined to just two rooms and the hall. This, in turn, meant that the various educational activities that used to be undertaken on the premises could no longer be held since most of the space available in the one-acre premises was taken over to accommodate town offices.
Talking about the gradual destruction of the library, local activist Nisar Hussain Baloch told Dawn that Site town officials continued to occupy the library for six years, despite clear orders issued by the provincial ombudsman to shift the offices to some other location.
“I lodged a case the year the Site town administration took over the library and a decision was given in our favour the next year,” said Mr Baloch. “But the Site town administration ignored the orders and remained on the premises until a fire destroyed the whole building last year.” He explained that some criminal elements damaged and set fire to the building during the violence triggered by Nawab Bugti’s death.
The building, now a shadow of its former self, lay abandoned for many months until some of the more usable rooms were occupied again, this time by the excise and taxation department.
According to Mr Baloch, the Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai Library was the only one in Site town. “There used to be another one in Rexer Lane but it was turned into a police station in 1970,” he said. “The Pak Colony police left the building only after it was partially damaged in a 1994 bomb attack. After the police, activists of a political party took over that building and turned it into the party’s sector office and it still being used for that purpose,” he continued, expressing fear that the government now planned to shift the Pak Colony police station into the Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai library building.
Residents discouraged
Dawn spoke to a number of residents of Old Golimar and all said that they were discouraged by the government’s attitude towards the library. “Instead of rebuilding the library and the community centre, the government is bent upon using the place for other purposes,” they complained.
“We live in congested houses and barely meet our day-to-day expenses,” Mohammed Jumman, a resident, pointed out. “We don’t have the resources to buy books or have the space in our homes to organise big gatherings. The library catered to everybody living both in Old Golimar and the adjoining localities. It was primarily a place for reading but it also served as a venue for educational and cultural activities. Before 2001, when it functioned as a full-fledged library, it subscribed to ten newspapers and offered around 7,000 books. There was also a toy room that had been set up with donations. All this started to disappear as soon as the Site town administration took over and now, there is nothing.”
Mohammed Jumman added that the former staff members of the library were now working with the town administration in different capacities.
The residents of Old Golimar also alleged that the city government was using last year’s fire on the premises as an excuse to not rebuild the library and the recent arrival of the property tax offices indicated that the government was not interested in restoring the building as a place of learning.
Approached with regard to this issue, Dhani Bux Pathan, the director/district officer of Property Tax and Entertainment Duty, maintained that his offices had shifted to the premises of the Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai Library under “unusual circumstances.” He said that the Supreme Court had directed them to immediately vacate Ameen Manzil, private premises in the Garden area where the department had formerly been based.
“We have no intention of being here long and came only after acquiring permission from the Site town nazim,” claimed Mr Pathan. “We will leave as soon as the government provides us with another place.”
Meanwhile, upon being contacted City Nazim Syed Mustafa Kamal said that he had no knowledge on the issue. “How can my government take the step to remove a library when it is opening others,” he asked.
Source: Dawn
Date:12/14/2007
” 
” 
” 
” 
” 
