Chandpur’s month-long Bijoy Mela, a longstanding fair on the history of the liberation war of the country, has turned into a commercial trade fair losing much of its spirit and appeal. It is also allegedly infested with irregularities and corruption.
Though the aim of the fair was to instigate patriotism among the young generation by giving them information about the liberation war, the fair nowadays is dominated by stalls filled with commodities.
Moreover, freedom fighters of the district have also allegedly been left out from the fair which was supposed to be a celebration of their gallantry.
People who came to visit the fair expressed disappointment over such commercialisation of the spirit of the liberation war.
Zerin Akter, a visitor and student of Chandpur Govt. College said: “It’s called Bijoy Mela. But there is nothing on the war here. There is only one stall with some photos and information. The fair is not serving its purpose.”
Another visitor Zahid Hasan said it should be called trade fair instead of Bijoy Mela. This year there are 137 stalls in the fair which began on December 8 at Chandpur Hasan Ali Government High School premises. Former foreign minister Dipu Moni inaugurated the fair organised by a committee formed with noted freedom fighters, local politicians, cultural personalities and other influential people of the district.
Except for one stall, the rest are selling various products ranging from clothes to furniture to household items. Ironically the fair on the liberation war has on display only one photo-book published by the national museum and some documents.
Visitor Mainuddin said the lone stall that had information on the liberation war was difficult to find since it had been placed at a corner of the premise. Moreover, the size of the stall has also been reduced making it less attractive to the people. Meanwhile, the local Muktizoddha Sangshad has declared to boycott the fair for allegedly neglecting the freedom fighters and for the gross commercialisation.
As per the decision of the organisation, all the freedom fighters of the district have separated themselves from the fair since December 27.
Freedom fighters alleged that the inauguration ceremony of the fair did not have the photo of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Moreover, the organisers did not feature the prominent freedom fighters and accord them proper respect.
Commander of Chandpur Muktizoddha Shangshad and President of the fair’s Steering Committee M A Wadud said: “The fair has become a means of income for some people. There is no transparency here.”
About the financial aspect of the fair, Wadud said rent for each stall used to be Tk500-Tk1000 but now the rent was minimum Tk14,000. “The number of stalls has also increased. And the price for lucky coupon has risen to Tk10 from Tk5. However, there is no proper accounts of the income and expenditure of the fair,” he alleged.
“For all those reasons we have boycotted the fair this time. After the fair ends, we will ask for an account and have discussion with people from all walks of life for a better fair next year,” said Wadud.
However, Chairman of the fair organising committee Selim Akbar refuted all the allegation made by Wadud. “We neither disgraced Bangabandhu nor neglected any freedom fighters. We have given due respect to all. Many freedom fighters expressed their solidarity with us. If the commercialisation of the fair is an issue, Wadud is responsible for this as much being a committee member.”
Convenor of the fair “There are at least 18 sub-committee responsible for organising the fair. The committee regularly gets updated on the accounts. Moreover, we have financially helped about 200 freedom fighters so far. There is no financial irregularities.”