By Tashfia Rawnak Anika
Tension was slowly building up in 1948 when Mohammed Ali Jinnah, at a gathering in University of Dhaka, declared that only Urdu would be the state language of Pakistan. Disregarding the language spoken by around 60% of the people, the Governor shook the sentiments of several Bengalis, a number of whom rose to rebellion against the evident suppression. By 1950, students of several universities including University of Dhaka and Jagannath University, refused to sit back and formed the State Language Action Committee, dedicated to make Bangla one of the state language of Pakistan. What started as a few students’ initiative, quickly gathered pace as professors, lawyers and diplomats joined hands. Gaining courage from unity, the group of rebels comprising majorly of young university students decided to take action in 1952 February, by staging a rally towards the East Bengal Legislative Assembly to present their demand to the Chief Minister, Nurul Amin. Chanting the now famous words “rashtrobhasha bangle chai”, the protest was met with live bullets in mid-way.
The lives lost to those bullets that day were not in vain. Speaking up against social injustice, especially for something as core and monumental as the recognition of a language spoken by millions, is an act that must be honored timelessly. And so it has been honored since the day the language rebels were shot dead. Earlier known as the Shaheed Day, the 21st of February has been a day for commemorating the language struggle. The United Nations recognized the 21st of February as International Mother Language Day on 16th May 2009 with a view “to promote the preservation and protection of all languages used by people of the world”. According to the UN, languages are the most powerful instruments of preserving and developing our tangible and intangible heritage.
Perhaps the best way to preserve and develop the heritage of Bengal through the Bengali language, is to not only remember the martyrs of social justice on the month more than 60 years ago, but to celebrate the literary landscape of the language by indulging in Bengali books. Yes, so stemmed the idea of a book fair in 1972 when Muktodhara publishing house set up a small make-shift shop in front of Bangla Academy on Ekushey February. As the idea gained much interest years after liberation, other publishers joined and in 1978, Bangla Acadamy took over. In 1984, the book fair became a month long affair and came to be known as the Amar Ekushey Grantha Mela.
“This is perhaps the world’s longest book fair,” commented Shamsuzamman Khan, the director of Bangla Academy, in this year’s opening of the Ekushey Boi Mela. Indeed, commemorating the language struggle by hosting a month-long book fair, is a unique way of respecting the 1952 popular student movement.
This year, the fair contains around 351 stalls in an expanded space situating both in the Bangla Academy and Shuhrawardy Uddyan premises. The majority of the stalls, around 259 are located in Shuhrawardy Uddyan, the rest in Bangla Academy. There are 11 pavilions for 11 publication houses including Prothoma, Onno Prokash, Annesha Prokashon, Adorno Publication, among others. Hundreds of new books have been published and launched at the Boi Mela this year, and the number is expected to pass well over a thousand. The famous publication house, Somoy, has reported a sale of around 200 copies of the favorite writer Muhammed Zafar Iqbal’s new science fiction titled Serina.
The additional space this year has created a wonderful vibe for book lovers, complete with foliage and huge trees shading the premises. Book enthusiasts in the Boi Mela appeared delighted with this year’s artistic arrangement, and no less satisfied with the lucrative book collection. Shopkeepers have reported compelling demand for new books, as always has been at this decade’s old book fair.
However, the contemporary writer Humayun Ahmed’s death has left a lingering hollow amongst his thousands of fans, especially the youth. The famous publishing house, Annesha, that published a number of the legendary writer’s books including the celebrated Himu series, still greatly misses the departed writer. Amidst the high demand for new books, Humayun Ahmed’s books are still much sought after. New readers are always seen thronging the stalls to find their pick of the numerous books the writer has written in his 30 years of writing career.
Amidst the popular demand for novels, poem collections and short stories, research publications have also gained much interest this year. Shopkeepers reported that a large number of research books have been sold alongside the popular literary ones. Research publications that are the most in demand, are the Statistical Pocketbook Bangladesh 2013, the Statistical Yearbook Bangladesh 2013, published by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics. Other books like the Regional Inequality in Bangladesh in the 2000s: Re-visiting the East-West Divide Debate, and New Light on the History of Ancient South East Bengal by Shariful Islam, are attracting readers with a nag for critical thinking. These publications are mainly attracting the academicians including students, teachers and researchers.
A special time in the day has been set only for children this year. The Child Hour in the first weekend of the month saw young visitors thronging the stalls with their parents and guardians. Publication houses specializing on children’s books like Tona Tunis, have reported that a number of children had visited their stall. Sisimpur’s executive director Jakaria Md Palash reported to have sold 75,000 Taka worth of books in just one weekend. Presence of enthusiastic young readers added color to the book fair and encouraged more sales.
In addition to the annual book fair, a four day International Literary Conference was held at the Bangla Academy which showcased some 40 poets, writers, and critics from 11 countries all over the world. Inaugurated by the famous artist Hashem Khan, an art contest was held with the participation of some 600 children who drew and colored pictures of Shaheed Minar, freedom rally and 21st February protests. At late afternoon of the weekends, queues ran from University of Dhaka’s TSC to Bangla Academy as enthusiastic visitors filled the fair.
