• Sayad Hashmi Library was the brainchild of slain Prof Saba Dashtyari for which land was donated by local resident Azeem Dehkan around two decades ago, library officials say
• Expressway’s project director denies having knowledge of any such library in the area

KARACHI: Surrounded by agricultural land and trees, Sayad Hashmi Reference Library, a Baloch literary and culture centre in Malir, stands in contrast to the hustle and bustle that defines the metropolis.

Adjacent to Malir river bridge and a few paces away from the Malir courts, the service road in front of the library was quite dusty and full of mud as some digging had been carried out just recently.

Established in 2005, the library is now facing the threat of closure, if not demolition, due to an interchange of the Malir Expressway which the authorities are planning to build there.

While the government has not issued any notice to library administration, a survey team associated with the construction of the expressway project had recently visited the area and marked ‘red’ half of the library’s structure for demolition.

This has sparked concerns and created uncertainty among the library officials as well as those who had in anyway linked with the decades-old learning institute.During a visit to the centre, library officials say sometimes the expressway project officials say that the library will be demolished because of the interchange and sometimes they say that they don’t know exactly how much area surrounding the interchange will be affected.

“This institute is not just a library. It is more than that. Books, dictionaries and other important research material on Balochi language and literature are published under the supervision of this institute,” library’s president Akbar Wali told Dawn.

“Courses on Balochi language are also organised under our supervision in different cities and town. And due to its publications and research works, the library holds the position of a cultural centre for the Baloch people and is seen as a major institute for the survival of Balochi language,” shared library coordinator Salman Baloch.

The library, they said, was a dream of Baloch intellectual Prof Saba Dashtyari and a result of his hard work. He [Prof Saba] did everything on his own, without the government’s financial support and the land was donated by Azeem Dehkan, an area resident, they added.

Library’s information secretary Bashir Baloch said even if such properties were to be demolished due to government projects, there was a proper mechanism for that, such as a piece of land is allotted in compensation, cost estimation, etc.

In the case of that library, location is of key importance as an institute will be of no use if readers, students and researchers have no easy access to it. But nothing of that sort has been done by the authorities, he added.

Responding to a question as to what they demanded from the government, Mr Wali said they wanted the authorities to talk to them and take them into confidence over the issue as there was no clarity from their [government’s] side and confusion existed.

If the authorities took any step without that, they would be met with resistance, he added.

When contacted in this regard, Malir Expressway Project Director Niaz Ahmed Soomro denied even having knowledge of any such library in the area. He said he also did not know what structures were to be demolished because he had not received the map from the survey team as yet.

Upon explaining the location of the library, the project director said an interchange was to be built there and any structure that came in the way of the up and down ramps of the interchange would have to be ‘shifted’.

Along with the library officials, Baloch leaders and intellectuals have also condemned the demolition plan.

Sindh United Party president Syed Zain Shah also condemned the plan to demolish the library and called it an attack on Baloch national heritage.

He said the library was an important institute for Balochi language, literature and culture.

Similarly, chairperson of department of Persian of University of Karachi Dr Ramzan Bamari, who is also the vice president of the library, condemned the plan and said: “The government, instead of facilitating educational institutes, is demolishing them. In the case of our library, it is being done without us being taken into confidence and issued any notice.”

Published in Dawn, June 10th, 2024