The Bangla Academy has for the first time printed invitation cards for the inauguration program of Amar Ekushey Book Fair 2023 with the monogram of the Ministry of Cultural Affairs, which has been met with some criticism.
Usually, the Bangla Academy, an autonomous body, prints invitation cards with its own monogram.
Social media users criticized the new cards, including writers like Kuloda Roy who took to Facebook to say that the Ekushey Book Fair is under threat and that the Ministry of Cultural Affairs wants to “hijack” the event.
Several sources said at first the Bangla Academy printed around 6,000 cards using its own logo only but after getting instructions from the state minister and the secretary of the cultural affairs ministry, the institution was forced to reprint the new invitation cards, which included the logo of the ministry.
The Bangla Academy operates under the Ministry of Cultural Affairs, which is why top officials of the ministry wanted to make this change, sources added.
State Minister for Cultural Affairs KM Khalid and Secretary Md Abul Monsur visited the Bangla Academy on Monday to inspect the progress of the book fair.
Bangla Academy officials, who were present during the visit, said they were asked by the secretary why only the logo of the Bangla Academy as the host was on the invitation letter.
A top official at the Bangla Academy said: “Bangla Academy officials said Bangla Academy, the organizer of the fair, and the ministry are cooperating in this arrangement. Then the secretary got angry and scolded the officials of the Bangla Academy and asked them to print new invitation cards."
After this incident, the Bangla Academy reprinted the new cards.
While talking to the media, Secretary Abul Monsur said: “The Bangla Academy is an institution under the cultural affairs ministry. Where does the budget of the Bangla Academy come from? The money comes from the ministry. So why so much trouble mentioning the ministry?”
“According to ‘Allocation of Business', the ministry is the guardian of the Bangla Academy Act. The activities of the ministry's organization or department are under the ministry," he added.
Parliament approved the Bangla Academy Act in 2013, which clearly says the Bangla Academy is an autonomous institution.
However, this act also mentions the scope of the government's powers in the operation of the Bangla Academy.