Staff Reporter:
The month-long “Amar Ekushey Grantha Mela 2024”, the country’s largest book fair is going to begin on its traditional date of the first day of February this year.
“Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is expected to open the fair to be held under the auspices of Bangla Academy on its premises and Suhrawardy Udyan on February 1 at 3pm,” Member Secretary of the Amar Ekushey Book Fair Committee Dr. KM Muzahidul Islam said.
A total of 895 stalls have been allocated to 573 organizations. Among them 786 are general stalls, while 109 stalls will be dedicated to little magazines chattar, he said.
Moreover, a total of 37 pavilions have been allocated this year. Last year, a total of 901 stalls were allocated in favour of 601 organizations.
This year, the entire work of the fair is being done by Bangla Academy alone to avoid any criticism, said Muzahidul, adding: “In the previous years, some Event management companies were involved in fair arrangements that faced some criticism last year.”
The preparation for the fair started soon after the end of the last fair, and the committees were formulated in a three-phase committee for the preparation phase, a committee for the inaugural ceremony, and separate committees for conducting the month-long fair.
Along with cultural programs and month-long seminars, there will be arrangements for children and teenagers, which include drawing, music, and recitation competitions.
Stall allotment for old and newly enlisted publications was done through a digitalized lottery system on January 23, said the organizers.
Meanwhile, besides the enlisted 601 organizations, some 70 new publications have applied to get stall allocations in response to the notice. Among them, 23 New publications were selected.
Like previous years, the main stage of the fair will be at the Bangla Academy premises while book unwrapping and ‘Lekhak Bolchi’ stages will be set up on Suhrawardi Udyan premises, said Mujahidul. ‘Shishu Chattar’ has also been set up in the Sadhu Sangha area, beside the Ramna Kali Temple.
For notable contributions to various aspects of Bangla literature this year, The Bangla Academy Literary Award 2023 will be given to 16 individuals in 11 categories: poetry, fiction, essay/research, translation, drama, children’s literature category, Liberation War, Bangabandhu, environment/science field, biography and folklore.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will hand over the awards at the inaugural ceremony of the Amar Ekushey Book Fair 2024, scheduled to begin on February 1 said in the release.
The award recipients are Shamim Azad (poetry), and novelist Nuruddin Jahangir and Salma Bani (jointly in fiction), Zulfikar Matin (essay/research), Saleha Chowdhury (translation), playwrights Mrittika Chakma and Masud Pathik (jointly in drama), Tapankar Chakrabarty (children’s literature), and Afroza Parvin and Asaduzzaman Asad (research on the Liberation War), Saifullah Mahmud Dulal and Md. Mojibur Rahman (research on Bangabandhu), ornithologists Inam Al Haque (environment/science field), Ishak Khan (biography), and Tapan Bagchi and Suman Kumar Das (jointly in folklore).
Meanwhile, Dhaka Metropolitan Police has taken all measures like the previous years to ensure foolproof security of the fair, considering the current political situation and challenges caused by the operation of the metro rail in the book fair area.
Militancy, arson attacks, and traffic management are among the main challenges centering the book fair, DMP said in a press release after a meeting with senior police officials.
DMP observed that metro rail service has appeared as a new challenge as it was noticed that miscreants have been trying to carry out sabotage on the Metrorail.
However, the DMP will deploy a sufficient number of police personnel in both uniform and plain cloth inside and outside the book fairground while a watch tower and fire tender will be set up to monitor everything around the fair venue, he said.
Besides, the fairground and its surroundings will be monitored around the clock with CCTV cameras and drones, the DMP commissioner said. The team of DMP will sweep the whole venue, while social media will be monitored to thwart rumours.
