By IANS
Hyderabad : Vice President Mohammed Hamid Ansari Thursday visited Diaratul Maarif-el-Osmania, Osmania University’s 125-year-old bureau for research and publication of Arabic manuscripts, and advised it to adopt modern technologies in reprinting and marketing its rare books and manuscripts.
“This is a national treasure and a source of pride for Hyderabad,” Ansari said while interacting with the scholars and staff of Dairatul Maarif.
He asked the state government officials to extend full support and cooperation to Dairatul Maarif so that the institution could continue its research and publication work.
He saw the hundreds of years old Arabic books and manuscripts brought from different countries and preserved in the institution on various subjects like history, geography, Indology, mathematics, physics, mysticism and medicine.
Ansari enquired about the availability of editors and sub-editors in Arabic language and the steps initiated for the preservation of rare manuscripts and marketing of the books published by the institution.
To a query by one of the staff members, Ansari suggested the institution to go online, set up its web site and make its catalogues available to the other countries.
“Hire professional experts of marketing for the purpose because scholars cannot do the marketing work,” he said.
“If you talk about something before the work is done it becomes propaganda. But it becomes a duty to tell the world about your work after it is done. It must reach others. You must publicise your work,” he said.
Ansari recalled his last visit to the institution 27 years ago along with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
He said he was aware of the problem of printing of pirated version of the books of Dairatul Maarif in Bierut. “The problem can be tackled through legal methods,” he said.
Problems relating to the employees of the institution were also brought to the vice-president’s notice. Some people complained that neither the retired employees of the institutions were getting pension nor the services of the existing employees were regularized.