THE Bangla Academy organising committee appears to have already been embroiled in a horde of preparatory issues when Amar Ekushey Granthamela 2025 is knocking on the door. The allotment of stalls for the fair, which would begin on February 1 and run for the duration of the month, would be done in a lottery to be drawn on January 17. But publishers have already demanded, as 抖阴精品 reported on January 15, a reduction in the rent for stalls and a review of the decision that the authorities would allow no pavilions at the fair. The committee is also reported to be facing pressure from vested interests for stall allocation. As for demand for a reduction in stall rent by a half, the director general of the academy, which organises the fair, says that the rent has remained unchanged for five years and it could be reduced if the government gives a subsidy. As for pavilions, the academy says that there would be no pavilions in this year鈥檚 fair and it would be an all-stalls affair to end discrimination. But, as some thinks, this would discriminate against big publishing houses that have been in the trade for years.
Some publishers banded as the Creative Publishers鈥� Association, which held protests on January 14 seeking a reduction in stall rent, also demand that certain publishing houses that are blamed to have used political clout to gain privileges during the tenure of the Awami League government should not be allowed to participate in the fair. A member on the organising committee says that the committee was facing pressure for the allocation of some stalls. In addition, the housing and public works ministry has allotted Suhrawardy Udyan, where most part of the book fair moved in 2014 to accommodate a growing number of stalls, for a teachers鈥� council for January 20. Publishers say that such a decision would hamper their stall preparation. In the changed political context that happened after the fall of the Awami League and with the installation of the interim government in August 2024, everybody expects that the fair organisers, the Bangla Academy, would hold the book fair in the most meaningful manner possible. The organisers should, therefore, make decisions cautiously so the book fair gets off to a good start and closes to a good ending. They should sit with the publishing houses and resolve the issue meaningfully, rising above any vested interest and not giving in to any pressure in a process free of discrimination and favour.
The book fair, which has a legacy dating back to February 1972, marking the language movement of 1952, should in no way be tainted. The organisers should, therefore, sit with the publishing houses and resolve the issue rising above any vested interest. It should ensure that the Ekushey book fair truly promotes reading in society.
