Yesterday saw a throng of visitors and heavy book sales as the curtain dropped on the month-long Amar Ekushey Boi Mela 2015.
But the highlight of the day was the publishers getting together to protest the murder of secularist writer and blogger Avijit Roy, who was hacked to death on Thursday night.
The last day of the fair began an hour earlier as part of the protest, and the protesters demanded immediate arrest of Avijit’s killers.
“We urge the government to immediately arrest the attackers and call upon the publishers to stand together for the sake of the freedom of expression,” said Robin Ahsan, owner of Srabon Prakashani.
Later, Srabon Prakashani, Jagriti Prakashani, Nandonik and online book shop Porua kept the shutter of their stalls down for 10 minutes – from 4:05pm to 4:15pm – in protest of Avijit’s murder.
The concluding ceremony took place in the evening at the main stage on the premises of Bangla Academy. Presided over by Professor Emeritus Anisuzzaman, chairman of Bangla Academy, the programme was also addressed by Bangla Academy Director General Shamsuzzaman Khan and Cultural Affairs Minister Asaduzzaman Noor, who was chief guest at the event.
Blockade, hartal mar book sales this year
The book sales were not impressive this year as attendance of visitors was quite low due to the ongoing nationwide blockade and hartal imposed by the BNP-led 20-party alliance.
Throughout the fair, publishers and stall attendants expressed concern that they were going to suffer loss as the volume of sales was far less than expected.
However, the number of visitors and book sales increased in the last days of the fair. Also, there were several special occasions in February when the fair experienced a significant rise in sales.
Yet, frustrated by the overall poor sales, the Academic and Creative Publishers’ Association of Bangladesh held a press conference on Thursday where they demanded the fair be extended for a week to recover the loss.
But the fair authorities refused to extend the event, citing monetary and security issues.
On the other hand, this year the fair saw a record number of new arrivals; around 3,700 new books were released throughout the fair – highest in 10 years, according to sources at Bangla Academy.
A few noteworthy events took place during the fair, such as the four-day International Literary Conference and the shut down of the stall of Rodela Prakashani for “hurting religious sentiments.”
