Leading publishing house Adarsha on Thursday alleged that the Bangla Academy denied it permission to set up a stall at the Ekushey Book Fair on political considerations.
Adarsha chief executive officer Mahabub Rahman held a press conference in this regard at Sagar-Runi auditorium in Dhaka Reporters Unity on Thursday and demanded a stall allocation in the fair.
‘I went to the member secretary of the Ekushey Book Fair organising committee to inquire about the reason for excluding Adarsha from the stall allocation list on January 15. But he did not clarify the cause,’ said Mahabub.
‘However, the member secretary told me that Adarsha is accused of publishing books comprising contents against the government,’ added Mahabub.
Ekushey Book Fair organising committee member secretary KM Muzahidul Islam told New Age that the publishing house was denied a stall for publishing books against Bangladesh, the country’s founding president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and the ruling party student wing, Bangladesh Chhatra League.
‘According to the book fair’s rules, no questions should be asked about politics, religion, nation, Bengali, environment, or Bangladesh. But it has been alleged that three of Adarsha’s books have contents against Bangabandhu [Sheikh Mujibur Rahman], Bangladesh and [Bangladesh] Chhatra League,’ Muzahidul, also Bangla Academy’s administration, human resources and planning division director, said.
He, however, didn’t give any details about the content of the books.
According to Muzahidul, 395 publishing houses that participated in the book fair earlier applied for stall allocation at the Suhrawardy Udyan and 394 publishing houses were selected to participate in the fair until Thursday.
Publishing house Adarsha was excluded from the stall allocation list published on January 12. Amar Ekushey Book Fair is scheduled to begin on February 1.
State minister for cultural affairs KM Khalid on Thursday after an inter-ministerial meeting regarding the book fair at the Bangla Academy told reporters that, ‘Adarsha can participate in the fair following the policies and regulations of the fair.’
Adarsha chief executive Mahabub criticised the Bangla Academy’s decision to deny them a stall.
‘According to a source, a quarter submitted three books published by Adarsha to the book fair authority. I am assuming that the books are Faiz Ahmad Taiyeb-written Apratirodhya Unnayaner Abhabaniya Kathamala, Zia Hassan-written Unnayan Bibhram and Faham Abdus Salam-written Bangalir Mediocrity’r Sandhane,’ he told New Age.
‘Freedom of expression is a constitutional right. However, the Bangla Academy’s action raises the question of whether the institution is violating a constitutional right,’ he said.
‘I submitted a letter to Bangla Academy director general Mohammad Nurul Huda on Sunday, inquiring the reason for not allocating a stall to Adarsha in the upcoming Ekushey Book Fair, but I am yet to receive any official response,’ said Mahabub Rahman.
He raised a five-point demand at the press conference, including ensuring freedom of expression of writers and publishers at the Ekushey Book Fair; allocating Adarsha a pavilion immediately; ensuring the display and sale of the three books objected to by the Bangla Academy; bringing an end to harassment of writers and publishers, and handing over the responsibility of this book fair to the Publishers Guild as the fair is for publishers.
Book Fair organising committee member secretary Muzahidul said that around 80 new publishing houses applied for allocation, and 12 were selected to participate in the fair for the first time, adding that the number might change after the organising committee meets soon.
A new publishing house, Chilekotha Publication, founded in 2021, applied for stall allocation but was denied.
Chilekotha Publication publisher Ishrat Jahan told New Age, ‘I submitted 20 books according to the requirements of the form. The fair authorities did not allocate a stall as they found the books not up to the mark.’
Muzahidul said that according to the policies and regulations of the fair, new publishers with 50 literary, science, and research-based books published in five years will be eligible to get stalls at the fair.
From the list of new publishing houses, Delwar Hossain, chief executive officer of Bangla Dharitree, said that they have 40 publications. Monirul Islam, the owner of Royal Publication, said that they have 44 publications.
