Moniruzzaman :
The month-long Amar Ekuhey Book Fair, the annual festive event of bookworms, writers and publishers, kicked off on the premises of the Bangla Academy and the Suhrawardy Udyan.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the Book Fair formally on Thursday at Bangla Academy premises. At the function, Sheikh Hasina, also the cultural affairs minister, unveiled covers of two books “Collected Works of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman: Volume-2” and “Praner Melay Sheikh Hasina” (Sheikh Hasina in the beloved fair) on her addresses delivered 21 times at the book fair, published by Bangla Academy.
Besides, the Prime Minister conferred the Bangla Academy Literary Award-2023 on 16 individuals for notable contributions to various fields of Bangla literature.
The Bangla Academy Literary Award-2023 was given in 11 categories- poetry, fiction, essay/research, translation, drama, children’s literature category, Liberation War, Bangabandhu, environment/science field, biography and folklore.
After inaugurating the Book Fair, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in her speech stressed the need for digital publication of the books alongside the printed ones and their translation into different languages to reach the Bangla language, literature, and culture on a global stage.
“I request all the publishers to be digital publishers alongside printer ones. We can quickly reach our Bangla language, literature, and culture not only within the country but also on the global stage,” she said.
She said this while opening the Amar Ekushey Book Fair 2024 for the record 21st time at the Bangla Academy on Thursday.
The prime minister said: “This is the era of science and technology, and we have to move ahead, keeping pace with the present time.”
She said the new generation now prefers to read books on a tablet or laptop instead of printed versions.
Despite this fact, the printed versions will not be erased, as many, mostly elderly people, still like to read the printed versions of the books.
The prime minister also suggested making audio versions of the books so that one can learn by hearing.
She asked the Bangla Academy to open a separate web portal to display the digital versions of their publications. “We will march ahead if we compete with the era,” she opined.
The prime minister also stressed the need for translating literary works to reach the global public with Bangla language, literature, culture, and history.
“We can know about a nation or a country through its language and culture. So, translation is required to this end,” she said.
The premier said the more Bengali literature is translated into different other languages, the more the global public will know those.
“Everything of ours, including language, literature, and culture, will reach the global people quickly if we can take measures to translate into different other languages,” she said.
Cultural Secretary Khalil Ahmed addressed at the ceremony as a special guest while Bangla Academy’s Director General Mohammad Nurul Huda delivered welcome address chaired by Bangla Academy President Selina Hossain.
The Book Fair will remain open from 3:00pm to 9.00pm on weekdays and for holidays the time span will be 11am to 9.00 pm. Visitors will not be allowed to enter the fair after 8:30pm.
However, the part of the book fair placed at the Bangla Academy has finished their preparation for book exhibition and selling but the Suhrawardy Udyan’s area of this fair yet not been done.
While visiting the fair, it was seen that only a few publications able to display book for selling but the remaining stalls are yet been completed. Besides, the Bangla Academy itself could not complete its any of the stalls at the Suhrawardy Udyan.
Mithu Mia, a worker of Genius Publication, said, “We could not bring our books to display as we could not finish works.” He hoped to complete the stall and start selling books from on Thursday.
It was also observed that no gates of the fair are being prepared till the last moment of the first day of the fair. Again, there have not been installed any body scanning tools at the entrance gates and thereby anyone can easily have entry into the fair with prohibited goods like cigarette, lighter and so far.
Moreover, the garbage of the stalls’ infrastructure was scattered at the Suhrawardy Udyan portion of the fair that turned the fair into very unlikely picture.
Expressing annoyance, Abid Hasan Rasal, a student of Dhaka University who is also a regular visitor of the fair for four years, said, “I have never seen such disordered surroundings of the book fair since I have been visiting the fair.”
The main stage of the fair has been placed on the Bangla Academy premises while book unwrapping and Lekhak Bolchi stages have set up on Suhrawardy Udyan premises.
Besides, the children’s yard is positioned near the Ramna Kali Mondir gate while the Little Magazine is placed beside the Mukto Moncho of Suhrawardy Udyan.
This year, a total of 937 stalls including 173 in Bangla Academy premises and 764 in Suhrawardy Udyan have been allocated among 635 organizations to exhibit and sell books. Besides, a total of 37 pavilions positioned at the Suhrawardy Udyan and the Bangla Academy premises.
The book fair is open for all from 3pm to 9pm on working days and 11am to 9pm on public holidays with a one-hour break for lunch and prayers.