A city-wide protest has swept across Kohlu following the political takeover of the city’s only public library. The shutter down strike, which was initiated by the Students Alliance and local tribal leaders, led to the closure of business centres and the dissemination of informative pamphlets.
The Students Organization and the Grand Alliance emphasised concerns over the potential downsizing of the public library located in Kohlu’s Degree College to a single room for political purposes. They underscored the role of a public library as a repository of knowledge for all citizens and students alike, and voiced concerns over the library’s reported transformation into a mere office space.
The move, they argue, is not only regressive but an obstruction to the educational progress of the city’s youth. They appealed to residents and students to resist any narratives that justify this takeover.
The city’s educated middle-class, along with numerous advocates of knowledge, expressed their support for the cause. They applauded the city’s growing appetite for education and expressed optimism about the youth’s potential to contribute to Balochistan’s future.
In a related development, the Balochistan Library Department declared the allocation of the public library for political use as unlawful. The department expressed its refusal to repurpose the library into an office space in a formal letter addressed to the Deputy Commissioner of Kohlu.