DU Correspondent: Thousands of people swarmed to the venues of the month-long Amar Ekushey Book Fair at the Bangla Academy and Suhrawardy Udyan in the capital on Wednesday as the nation observed Shaheed Dibas and International Mother Language Day.
The venues opened at 8:00am and visitors started pouring into the book fair from the morning.
The Bangla Academy organises the country’s biggest book fair every year commemorating the Language Movement and the martyrs who sacrificed their lives for mother tongue Bangla.
The academy began its activity at 12:30am by placing wreaths at the Central Shaheed Minar.
Around 200 poets, including poets from Kolkata, recited their poems on the main stage of the fair on the Bangla Academy premises in the morning paying tribute to the language martyrs, said Bangla Academy deputy director AKM Kutubuddin.
Local poets, including Tapan Bagchi, Arifur Rahman, Oyasif-A-Khoda, Sazzad Arifin, Sharmin Matin Mitu, and poets from West Bengal in India, including Debadyuti Bandyopadhyay, Debika Bandyopadhyay, Jayanti Karmakar, recited their poems at the programme, presided over by poet Shamim Azad.
Publishers and book sellers said that they saw the biggest crowd and better sale on the day than the previous days.
Oitijjhya stall manager Amjad Hussain Kajal said that thousands of people from different walks of life visited the fair on the day and sale was better than the previous days, including the weekends.
Agamee Prakashani publisher Osman Gani said, ‘The fair usually gets momentum on February 21 and today is not an exception. It feels good to see thousands of people visiting the fair and exploring and collecting books.’
Kathaprokash stall in-charge Jafirul Islam said that the sale on that day was satisfactory.
Many visitors came to the fair venues after placing flowers at the Central Shaheed Minar.
Visitor Farhan Rahman said, ‘I usually visit the fair every year with my friends after paying tribute to the language heroes at the Central Shaheed Minar.’
He said, ‘I have interest in books on history and politics. I bought three volumes of “Purbo Banglar Bhasha Andolan O Tatkalin Rajniti” written by Badruddin Umar,’ said Farhan.
Sabrin Islam came with her friends from Mirpur.
She said that she collected some novels and collections of poems and stories from the fair.
The academy held a discussion on the Language Movement at its main stage in the afternoon. Academy president Selina Hossain chaired the session where its secretary Hasan Kabir delivered welcome speech. Writer Anwara Syed Haq delivered the keynote speech at the session.
According to the Bangla Academy, 234 new titles were published on Wednesday taking the total number of books published in the fair to 2,326.
Visitors enjoyed a cultural programme, jointly organised by the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy and the Bangladesh Group Theatre as part of the fair at the amphitheatre at Suhrawardy Udyan.
The fair will open at 3:00pm on Thursday and it will continue till 9:00pm.
