People gather to read books of their choice at Law Garden in Ahmedabad on Saturday
Ahmedabad: Books replaced placards at Law Garden on Saturday evening as Amdavadis from different walks of life gathered on Teachers’ Day to assert what organisers described as the “right to read”. Participants said reading offered a non-violent form of protest against attempts to restrict access to books. This is a bunch of people, citizens, some of whom are not necessarily associated with the protest movement, who come together to read books,” said Mitul Kajaria, a psychologist who attended the protest. Another participant, Palak S, said, “The protest was about people being able to read, question and form their own views, rather than being told what they should read.
Saturday’s gathering invited participants to bring their own books, borrow or lend them, and read together to promote free thinking. “This is a wonderful form of resistance or protest, which takes away the connotation of protest being violent. Questions about a book’s content should remain open to discussion rather than become grounds for dictating what people can access. Books after all help develop critical thinking and are windows to a new world.”