Despite hartal, the Ekushey Book Fair was a popular destination for many coming in from various parts of the capital yesterday. In fact, most preferred visiting the fair during a hartal as it saved them time.
Mishkat Noor, a resident of Uttara said: “I wanted to visit the fair a few days back. However, fearing heavy traffic, I changed my mind. But today I took the chance as it is a hartal day and it took me only half an hour to reach here.”
Samantha Shehreen came to the fair from Keraniganj with her two children as she thought the crowd would be sparse today in wake of the hartal. However, after coming she found it to be anything but.
“We thought today we would be able to read our favorite books in a relaxed manner, but now we see a large number of visitors here,” Samantha said.
The sense of paranoia that a hartal usually instills was not enough to keep book lovers away from the fair, said publishers with content. To their surprise, most publishers saw a boost in their sales during the hartal, although the trend had remained down just a few days earlier.
Freedom fighter Abir Ahad, organiser of the stall “Muktijuddher Boi,” said: “Hartal has lost its impact. You can see people are no more confined in their homes fearing hartal.”
He added that sales had peaked today, which is a sign of hartal losing its impact.
Monirul Hoque, publisher of Anonna Prokashoni, was busy tending to customers. He said: “You can see how busy we are today. I was rather surprised to see such a large number of visitors as we thought the hartal would discourage people from coming to the fair.”
Deputy Director of Department of Co-ordination and Public Relations of Bangla Academy Murshid Uddin Ahmed said: “The academy has declared the hours from 11am to 3pm on Saturdays as “Shishu prohor,” (children hour) to attract children to the fair. It has set up a children’s book corner with 25 stalls.”
According to Bangla Academy authorities, 97 new books came to the fair yesterday including Serajul Islam Choudhury’s “Rashtro o shomajer majhkhane” which will be available at the Pearl Publications, and Anish Das Opu’s “Mrittuchumbon” which will be available at the Jagriti Prokashoni.
A discussion titled “Bhasha andolon ebong Amanul Haque er kirti” was held at the central stage with eminent photographer Nasir Ali Mamun as the keynote speaker.
Professor Ahsanul Haque presided over the programme while Faridur Reza Sagor, managing director of Impress Telefilm Ltd, and celebrated author Lutfur Rahman Riton attended the discussion, among others.