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| Book hunters visit a stall at Amor Ekushey Gronthomela (Book Fair of Immortal 21). (Photo: Stephan Uttom/UCA News) |
The park has been hosting the month-long Amor Ekushey
Gronthomela (Book Fair of Immortal 21), the largest and most popular annual
literary festival of Bangladesh, for the past five years, offering more space
for both book publishers and an increasing number of book hunters.
It started as an initiative of educationist-publisher
Chittaranjan Saha, a Hindu, in 1972. The fair pays tribute to Bangla language
martyrs of Feb. 21, 1952, who died in a clash with police during the Pakistan
period upholding the rights of their mother tongue.
Since 1984, Bangla Academy, the state-funded autonomous body for
the promotion of Bangla language, literature and culture, has organized the
event.
However, the huge crowds at the fair pay little attention to
Christian publications, largely because of their minimal presence and
participation.
There are 873 stalls of 560 publishers and organizations at this
year's book fair and only two of them are Christian. Some 15 Christian writers
have published books so far, mostly through individual efforts and other
publishers.
Pratibeshi Prokashoni, the country's sole Catholic publisher, has secured a small spot at Little Mag corner at the edge of the fair and away from the main book stalls.
Pratibeshi Prokashoni, the country's sole Catholic publisher, has secured a small spot at Little Mag corner at the edge of the fair and away from the main book stalls.
On the day, a representative of the house was in a gloomy mood
as one or two visitors randomly glanced at the small stall. It featured some
copies of religious and literary texts as well as Weekly Pratibeshi (Neighbor),
the 79-year-old sole Catholic weekly magazine.
About a decade ago, Pratibeshi Prokashoni used to get a regular
stall in the fair and attracted a good number of visitors. But it missed the
fair for seven consecutive years for various reasons including failure to
publish 50 books in three years as well as financial constraints.
Since 2018, it has managed to gain access through Little Mag
criteria.
"The situation is unexpected, but there are some
discouraging issues behind the drawback including high fees for stall
allocation and low readership. Book publishers get stalls and make profits from
selling books to visitors, where we fall behind," Father Bulbul A.
Rebeiro, director of the Christian Communication Center, the Catholic media
apostolate, told UCA News.
Steps are being taken to rectify the poor show in coming years,
the priest said.
"This year, we have a target to publish at least 15 books,
and we have been in touch with Christian writers to publish new titles and also
collecting ISBNs [international standard book numbers] for books published
previously. I hope we can get a fully fledged stall again, not to sell books
and make profits but to let people know Christians have books and publishing
houses as well," Father Rebeiro added.
Going with the flow
In the middle of the fair, the stall of the Bangladesh Bible
Society (BBS) is abuzz with visitors — Christians and non-Christians — glancing
at Bibles in different languages and books on Biblical stories.
The BBS, founded in 1953, a registered NGO and ecumenical
organization dominated by Protestants, has never missed out since it started it
attending the fair.
"Every year, we publish Bibles in various languages and
books in several categories. We don't make much profit because our mission is
to spread the Bible and encourage reading. In the past we distributed Bibles
freely, but now we offer commissions and through various programs," BBS
secretary Liton Mrong, an ethnic Garo Baptist pastor, told UCA News.
Mrong noted a decline in Christian publications and said the BBS
has a 10-year plan to open a literary wing to create opportunities to publish
literary books.
"Christians are a minority and readership is also low, so
we are thinking about introducing books on interesting topics like counseling,
leadership and communication, which can attract readers outside the community
as well," he added.
The outlook for Christian publications might seem gloomy, but
Christians, a small minority in Muslim-majority Bangladesh, have a golden
legacy in the history of Bangla language and literature.
A golden heritage
In the early 18th century, Portuguese Catholic missionary Father
Manodel da Assumpcao, the parish priest of St. Nicholas of Tolentino Church in
Nagori, now Gazipur district of central Bangladesh, made great strides with
Bangla language and literature.
The Augustinian priest found the highly sophisticated written
and colloquial form of Bangla very challenging for missionary works. Between
1735 and 1742, Father Assumpcao wrote the first grammatical instructions and a
dictionary of the Bangla language.
In 1743, he published Crepar
Xaxtrer Arth-Bhed, a colloquial catechism based on a dialogue
between a clergyman and his disciple. Written in the Roman alphabet and printed
in Lisbon, Portugal, this was the first Bangla book in print.
British Baptist missionary Dr. William
Carey (1761-1884) spent most of his missionary life in greater
Bengal province of British India and was devoted to developing Bangla language
and literature.
Carey translated and printed the Bible in Bengali and wrote many
other books and a dictionary in the Bangla language. Besides developing Bangla
typefaces, he pioneered publishing newspapers and periodicals in India.
Michael Madhusudan Dutt (1824-73), a Bangla Hindu who converted
to Christianity, was one of most prolific writers in the history of Bangla
literature.
Started in 1941, Weekly
Pratibeshi is the oldest weekly magazine still in print in
Bangladesh.
Stagnant period
Christians have been unable to keep up their heritage in Bangla
language and literature due to a variety of issues including a lack of
patronage and platforms for Christian writers, a dearth of professional
writers, lack of Christian literary magazines and publishing houses and an
extremely low readership among Christians, prominent Christian writers say.
"There are writers in the Christian community, but most of
them are confined to a small circle, and only few Christian poets, essayists
and researchers have a nationwide popularity and impact. While lack of reading
habits and patronage can be blamed, there is also a lack of professionalism and
seriousness among Christian writers," Khokon V. Corraya, 62, president of
Bangladesh Christian Writers' Forum, told UCA News.
Corraya, a Catholic and printing press businessman, regularly
writes poems and short stories for national newspapers and magazines. He has
authored three books — one of poetry and two short story anthologies.
He credits his book lover mother and writings in Weekly Pratibeshi for his
ventures in the literary field since 1975.
"The Christian community badly needs a strong literary
magazine, a literary publishing house and a platform to overcome the
intellectual crisis of mediocre writings and low readership," he added.
Theophil Nokrek, 49, an ethnic Garo Catholic and writer, has
authored 15 books including poetry, novels, essays, research books and
travelogues since 1984. This year, he published one novel and one poetry
collection at the book fair.
He believes an increased reading habit among Christians and
efforts to patronize Christian writers can improve the stagnant period.
"Christians are highly regarded for their contribution to
education, but when it comes to literature, we struggle to find competent
people. Some people can write but don't have money to publish books, while
those with money don't want to patronize. A concerted effort to bring writers
together, encourage rich people to fund publishing and even start awards for
writers can greatly improve things in the future," Nokrek told UCA News.
Pratibeshi Prokashoni and
the BBS have greater roles to play in promoting Christian writers in
Bangladesh, says Subir Kasmir Pereira, a writer based in Maryland, U.S.
Pereira, 49, has been writing poems since 1989 and has
co-authored 10 books and one poetry collection published last year.
"There are good writers in Bangladesh, but many are
confined within the community and those who have broadened their writing scope
in the mainstream have excelled. Two prominent Christian publications have
failed to play their role because they are confined within the limits of
religion," Pereira told UCA News.
He regretted that Christians pay excessive attention to social
programs but are unconcerned about sponsoring writers or buying books.
"A writer friend told me with great sadness several times
that if he asks whether a Christian would buy a book or a bottle of wine, in
most cases the wine would win. We need to change this tendency in order to
restore our lost pride in literature," Pereira said.
END
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