Growth of intolerance in books, films and art is not a healthy trend: Shashi Tharoor

05 February, 2013

The week-long New Delhi world book fair (NDWB) was inaugurated on February 4 by the Minister of State for HRD, Shashi Tharoor. Opening the fair, Tharoor said that growth of competitive intolerance in books, films and art was not a healthy trend. Referring to some recent controversies in film and publishing industries, he remarked that there was a need to argue and debate all these issues rather than seeking ban on their display.

Tharoor lauded the emergent role of digital media in the publication sector for its faster reach to readers. He was of the view that the current book fair as a cultural event should promote reading habits among people.

In the current book fair, France is Guest of Honor country and about 2000 French titles will be put on display during the fair and the noted French authors Tahar Ben Jelloun, Kènizè Mourad and Dominique Siguad will be available for interaction with book lovers.

The president of the Indian council of cultural relation Dr. Karan Singh stressed the need for value- based education in the country to help younger people to imbibe positive values.

At the inaugural session, Francois Richier, the Ambassador of France for India, condemned the extremes elements, who burn books and manuscripts of the literary works they disagree with. He cited the example of several libraries being set on fire by Al-Qaeda in Timbuktu.

"About 23 countries, including China, USA, Poland, Turkey and four international agencies are participating in this event. For the first time, special enclosures have been made for govt. participants where publication will be made available. A special enclosure for e-books has been made where publishers, developers and content providers will be showcasing their e-books. There is also provision of author’s corners and initiative to promote business to business session between the publishers. Several literary events including seminars, discussion and book release have also been scheduled," informed a press release of the MHRD.