Shehzad Khan and Muhammad Ilyas, who are the leading campaigners of the week-long drive, say lack of libraries in the district and the students’ quest to pursue knowledge had motivated them to take the initiative.
So far, they added, "we have collected over 1,000 books of different disciplines and we hope that we would be able to receive more donations in the coming days as the campaign is to continue for the rest of the week," the duo said.
Regarding the library they said, “we have planned to establish a place where every kind of facility of a digital library would be available, Shehzad added.
“We managed [to acquire the] a place and the furniture on our own," the youngster said, hoping the drive would help them manage a good stock. "However, after that, we will be faced with a shortage of computers as we don’t have enough funds to purchase them."
"Initially, we intend to put our own computers and laptops in the library to facilitate the readers," said the determined youth.
The student, however, expressed reluctance to accept financial support from any political leader, saying it would only politicise the project. "It would compromise our sole purpose of establishing the library because political leaders would use the project for political gains," he said.
Shehzad, an engineering student, revealed that there are more than 150 students who have hired hotel rooms for the purpose of studies as they live in joint family systems and getting a separate place to study is difficult for them. "This library will help them save money and focus on other expenses," he hoped.
He also said that they do not have any support of the district administration except for their permission. One of our donation camps is exactly outside the deputy commissioner's office in Zhob. "He [DC] goes past the place daily, but does not visit our camp," he said.
Meanwhile, senior journalist and activist Ali Khan appealed to the government of Balochistan and philanthropists to join the cause. He highlighted that youth of the area are in dire need of a modern library.
It is pertinent to mention here that Zhob has an estimated population of 800,000, with no public library available.