Dr Bilal Mohi-ud-Din BhatIndian Administrative Service

Srinagar · August 2024

Chinar Book Festival

The first Chinar Book Festival, conceived by Dr Bilal Mohi-ud-Din Bhat as Deputy Commissioner, Srinagar, and hosted with the National Book Trust at SKICC.

Visitors at the Chinar Book Festival, SKICC, August 2024
Photo: The Tribune

The Festival

The Chinar Book Festival was held at the Sher-i-Kashmir International Conference Centre, Srinagar, from 17 to 25 August 2024. It was organised by the District Administration Srinagar with the National Book Trust, India, and was the first book fair of its scale in the Kashmir valley. More than 1,000 publishers took part, with about 300 stalls, and attendance over the nine days exceeded one lakh visitors. On 26 August 2024 the festival was declared an annual calendar event of the city.

Dr Bhat announced the festival at a press briefing on 13 August 2024 and inaugurated it on 17 August. At the opening he said: "I believe books can change the world. We have been planning this festival for the last two and a half months, and today, my dream has come true." The programme included author sessions, children's activities and cultural evenings alongside the exhibition.

Reading Programmes Across His Postings

The festival continued a line of work that began in Kulgam, where a library and reading room for civil-services aspirants opened in April 2022, and continued in Budgam with the Ignite Space libraries at Charar-i-Sharief and Chadoora during Good Governance Week in December 2025, and a hybrid learning system linking fifteen schools at Kanir in February 2026.

Coverage

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