Srinagar, Mar 06 (KNS): 57th anniversary of Noor Muhammad Kitab, the pioneer of book publishing in Kashmir, was observed on Sunday at a book exhibition function at Jawahar Nagar.
In a statement, issued to Kashmir News Service (KNS), a spokesperson said that the family which owns the publishing house, Ghulam Muhammad Noor Muhammad at Maharaj Gunj Srinagar organised an impressive book exhibition to mark the occasion.
Born in 1905, in a family associated with book business, Noor Muhammad Kitab, picked up the thread of family business, apart from bookselling, Noor Mohammad also started publishing the books.
The statement reads that he used to get books published from different cities of India. “Earlier before 1947, it was Lahore and after the partition, it was Lucknow.”
It reads that having love with the Kashmiri literature, Noor also used to go to different parts of the Valley to collect and fetch Kashmir’s literature.
“He would also collect literary material from Kashmir’s Islamic scholars and poets and later on compile them and used to give them the book shape.”
It further reads that during his lifetime, Noor Mohammad published nearly 250 books in the Kashmiri language, including the works of prominent authors like Ghulam Ahmad Mehjoor, Ahad Zargar, and Rehman Rahi.
“Additionally, Noor Mohammad brought the sub-continental literature to the valley and published a score of translations of those books.” (KNS)