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Habibullah Siraj, director general of the academy, told bdnews24.com on Friday evening: “We have decided to apply to the culture ministry next Sunday. There will be a request to postpone the book fair for the time being.
“We would also like to consider whether online book fairs can be organized.”
However, the Bangladesh Knowledge and Creative Publishers Association is not happy with the Bangla Academy’s decision.
Farid Ahmed, president of the organization and director of Samay Prakashan, told bdnews24.com, “The Loving Ekushey Book Fair is a national affair. The Bangla Academy cannot make a single decision in this regard. We don’t know anything about it. “
In his words, the decision to hold a book fair in the midst of an epidemic must come from the highest levels of government.
The commission of the Ministry of Health will rule on whether the book fair can be organized or not. This important decision cannot be made by Bangla Academy alone. “
Farid Ahmed also opposed the proposal to organize an online book fair.
“Any organization, individually or collectively, can organize an online book fair at any time. But the organization of the Ekushey Book Fair Online is not acceptable in any way. It cannot be an alternative. “
Chittaranjan Saha, the owner of Muktadhara Prakashan, began selling books by spreading sacks at the door of the Bangla Academy on the occasion of Language Day on February 21, 1982. Many more joined him in 1986.
In 1987, the then General Director of the Bangla Academy Ashraf Siddiqui associated the Bangla Academy with this book fair. The following year, the Bangladesh Book Sellers and Publishers Association joined the fair.
In 1983, when Manzoor was the Director General of Maula Bangla Academy, preparations were made to organize a fair called ‘Amar Ekushey Granth Mela’, but it could not be realized. The following year, in 1974, the ‘Ekushey Loving Book Fair’ was started on the premises of the Bangla Academy.
This book fair on the premises of Bangla Academy during the month of the realization of the right to the mother tongue has now turned into a fair of Bengali thought.
Although the fair was held on February 1 each year, this year’s Ekushey Loving Book Fair started a day later, on February 2, due to voting in the two Dhaka city corporations.
By then, the coronavirus had started to reach other countries beyond China, but it did not spread to Bangladesh. As a result, the fair ended smoothly at the end of February.
According to the Bangla Academy, 4,919 new books arrived at the fair this year. In total, books worth 2.4 million Tk were sold.
The first case of coronavirus in Bangladesh was diagnosed on March 8. The number of patients already identified has exceeded 7 lakh; About 7,000 people have died.
Due to the epidemic, Mujibvarsha’s huge organization had to downsize this time. Restrictions on almost all types of festivals have been lifted due to the virus.
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