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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.
