Saturday, 22 February, 2025
Eight-grade student Niloy was browsing the Baatighar pavilion with her father, hoping to find an original edition of her favourite foreign author’s book.
A student of the city's Khilgaon Girls' High School, he was unaware that the Ekushey Book Fair permits only books by Bangladeshi authors, except when translated by local writers.
However, at the Babui stall, he unexpectedly came across a foreign book being sold in its original language. Curious, he questioned the sales staff about its presence at the fair.
Unsatisfied with their response, he took the matter to the Book Fair 2025 Organising Committee. “The fair will operate according to its policies. Any breaches will be dealt with as per the rules”, a member of the fair committee said when the matter was reported.
The book fair opened at 2pm on Saturday and continued until 9pm.
As it was both a weekend and a public holiday for Shab-e-Barat, the fairgrounds saw an overwhelming rush of visitors.
Fridays and Saturdays feature morning sessions for children.
However, due to the Dhaka University admission test, this Saturday’s Shishu Prohor, or Children’s Hour was cancelled.
At 10am, the final round of the music competition for children and teenagers took place on the fair’s main stage, with Sumon Majumder, Priyanka Gope, and Rezaul Karim serving as judges.
By evening, navigating through the crowd became increasingly difficult. The added nuisance of dust further complicated movement.
However, these “obstacles” did little to dampen the festive spirit.
“Roaming around the fair is enjoyable, especially with friends,” Dhaka University student Selim Ahmed said.
Amidst the crowd, instances of mismanagement were also evident. Despite police vigilance, hawkers were seen operating inside the fair.
Some vendors had set up makeshift stalls near the entrances. While police moved them away, they returned shortly after.
Book Fair Task Force Committee Convener Md Selim Reza said, “We have asked police to be more vigilant about hawkers.”
In addition, allegations of book theft emerged from a stall “Khyapa” in the Little Mag Corner of the fair.
“We left our books under the stall’s table, but [on Saturday] we found them missing,” Apu Mehedi, executive editor of “Khyapa”, told bdnews24.com.
He also claimed that books had been stolen from several other stalls in the section.
“We haven’t been informed about this yet, but we will investigate,” said the fair committee’s Member Secretary Amin.
“Security personnel will be instructed to be more vigilant.”
A total of 175 new books arrived at the fair on Saturday, bringing the total count to 1,427.
DISCUSSION, MUSIC, RECITATION
At the Lekhok Bolchi, or Writers’ Talk stage, poets Shahidullah Forayezi and Mohibur Rahim discussed their new books.
At 4pm, the main stage hosted a discussion titled “Life and Work: Syed Ali Ahsan”.
The cultural segment featured poetry recitations by Tarif Rahman and Zahid Haidar, with Sayera Habib, Sharmin Jui, and Shahnaj Parvin Lipi also performing.
In addition, cultural organisations “Shaheed Shilpigosthi O Sangskritik Academy” and “Shilpobritto” presented artistic performances.
SUNDAY’S EVENTS
Sunday marks the 16th day of the book fair, running from 3pm to 9pm.
At 4pm, the main stage will host a discussion titled "Life and Work: Zahir Raihan”.
Poet Sohul Ahmed will present the keynote paper, with Mashiul Alam and Ahmad Mostafa Kamal joining as discussants.
The session will be chaired by Mahbub Hasan.
Comments
Eight-grade student Niloy was browsing the Baatighar pavilion with her father, hoping to find an original edition of her favourite foreign author’s book.
A student of the city's Khilgaon Girls' High School, he was unaware that the Ekushey Book Fair permits only books by Bangladeshi authors, except when translated by local writers.
However, at the Babui stall, he unexpectedly came across a foreign book being sold in its original language. Curious, he questioned the sales staff about its presence at the fair.
Unsatisfied with their response, he took the matter to the Book Fair 2025 Organising Committee. “The fair will operate according to its policies. Any breaches will be dealt with as per the rules”, a member of the fair committee said when the matter was reported.
The book fair opened at 2pm on Saturday and continued until 9pm.
As it was both a weekend and a public holiday for Shab-e-Barat, the fairgrounds saw an overwhelming rush of visitors.
Fridays and Saturdays feature morning sessions for children.
However, due to the Dhaka University admission test, this Saturday’s Shishu Prohor, or Children’s Hour was cancelled.
At 10am, the final round of the music competition for children and teenagers took place on the fair’s main stage, with Sumon Majumder, Priyanka Gope, and Rezaul Karim serving as judges.
By evening, navigating through the crowd became increasingly difficult. The added nuisance of dust further complicated movement.
However, these “obstacles” did little to dampen the festive spirit.
“Roaming around the fair is enjoyable, especially with friends,” Dhaka University student Selim Ahmed said.
Amidst the crowd, instances of mismanagement were also evident. Despite police vigilance, hawkers were seen operating inside the fair.
Some vendors had set up makeshift stalls near the entrances. While police moved them away, they returned shortly after.
Book Fair Task Force Committee Convener Md Selim Reza said, “We have asked police to be more vigilant about hawkers.”
In addition, allegations of book theft emerged from a stall “Khyapa” in the Little Mag Corner of the fair.
“We left our books under the stall’s table, but [on Saturday] we found them missing,” Apu Mehedi, executive editor of “Khyapa”, told bdnews24.com.
He also claimed that books had been stolen from several other stalls in the section.
“We haven’t been informed about this yet, but we will investigate,” said the fair committee’s Member Secretary Amin.
“Security personnel will be instructed to be more vigilant.”
A total of 175 new books arrived at the fair on Saturday, bringing the total count to 1,427.
DISCUSSION, MUSIC, RECITATION
At the Lekhok Bolchi, or Writers’ Talk stage, poets Shahidullah Forayezi and Mohibur Rahim discussed their new books.
At 4pm, the main stage hosted a discussion titled “Life and Work: Syed Ali Ahsan”.
The cultural segment featured poetry recitations by Tarif Rahman and Zahid Haidar, with Sayera Habib, Sharmin Jui, and Shahnaj Parvin Lipi also performing.
In addition, cultural organisations “Shaheed Shilpigosthi O Sangskritik Academy” and “Shilpobritto” presented artistic performances.
SUNDAY’S EVENTS
Sunday marks the 16th day of the book fair, running from 3pm to 9pm.
At 4pm, the main stage will host a discussion titled "Life and Work: Zahir Raihan”.
Poet Sohul Ahmed will present the keynote paper, with Mashiul Alam and Ahmad Mostafa Kamal joining as discussants.
The session will be chaired by Mahbub Hasan.
Comments
