Rokomari, one of the largest online platforms for selling books in Bangladesh, has removed the books of science fiction writer Dr Zafar Iqbal from its website following his comments on the quota protesters.
The authorities of the online book-selling platform told the media that Dr Zafar Iqbal's books are no longer available on their site. They removed more than 230+ of his published books from its website, which are not available to purchase since Wednesday morning.
Several renowned and popular book-related groups on Facebook such as BoiPoka (Largest facebook based book readers group in Bangladesh with 603.5k members), Boipokader addakhana (2nd largest group, 402k members), and several other groups posted that from now on, they ban Dr Zafar Iqbal and will not allow or promote any of his literary works or posts related to his literary creations.
A number of prominent online bookshops including Books of Bengal (a Dhaka and Kolkata based online bookshop), Universal Book Shop, Bangla Bazar Books, Bookshop BD, Book Fiesta, Grontho Bazar and others have posted that from now on, they will not sell any of Dr Zafar Iqbal's books in their platforms.
A handwritten statement by Dr Zafar Iqbal on Tuesday sparked more discussion and debate among supporters and participants in the ongoing quota reform movement.
“Dhaka University is my university, my beloved university. But I think I will never want to go to this university again. Whenever I see the students, I will think, perhaps they are Razakar. And as long as I live, I do not want to see the face of any Razakar. We only have one life, why should I have to see Razakars again in this life?” he said via that handwritten note.
The images of his statement started floating across social media platforms on Thursday night. Shortly after that, netizens and supporters of the quota reform protest started expressing their disappointment over his statement.