Literary fraternity rues absence of Bangladeshi publishers and authors from Kolkata Book Fair

Literary fraternity rues absence of Bangladeshi publishers and authors from Kolkata Book Fair


The city’s major can’t-miss annual event has been the International Kolkata Book Fair. The book fair turns 48 this year and promises to be an event of many firsts – it gets a mascot, becomes a complete open-air fair, and Germany is the focus country.

Adding cherry to the top of the cake will be the 1,000 publishers and sellers that are expected to be present at the event, which starts on Tuesday.

Another first for the book fair, on a rather sad note, is Bangaldesh’s absence for the first time in more than 25 years. This is a bummer for bookworms who flock to the fair every year, especially for Bengali books from Bangladesh.

“Bangladesh is not participating this year. A country must apply officially for participation, which Bangladesh has not done so far. Naturally, we cannot allot space for Bangladeshi publishers and booksellers. We all know about the current geopolitical conditions of this neighbouring country,” Publishers & Booksellers Guild President Tridib Kumar Chatterjee told businessline.

No word from either side

Every year, around 50 publishers and booksellers come from Bangladesh. But this year, both the Bangladeshi and Indian governments have not informed the Guild about the participation of publishers from the neighbouring country, according to sources.

The current political upheaval in Bangladesh has cast a shadow on the bilateral relations between the two neighbours. As India-Bangladesh relations have hit a new low in the last six months with tensions rising, border trade between the two countries has witnessed a massive drop. Kolkata’s private hospitals have also been witnessing a considerable drop in footfall of Bangladeshi patients.

“Bangladesh had been participating in our book fair for the last 25 years. So, for us it is very sad and painful. Writers from the country are also not coming. But we cannot do anything about it because of the current situation,” said Publishers & Booksellers Guild Honorary General Secretary Sudhangshu Sekhar Dey.

Literati upset

Literary fraternity in Kolkata has rued the absence of Bengali publishers and authorsin the event, scheduled from January 28 to February 9 at the Boimela Prangan, Salt Lake City.

Around 20 countries, including Germany, the US, the UK, France, Spain, Russia, Argentina and Peru, are expected to participate this year, with the focus on Germany for the first time ever.

“We were cherishing the complementary trends in Bengali literature that have been gaining strength in Bangladesh. At different universities in West Bengal, their literary works were being taught as special papers. So, there has been huge demand for Bengali literature from Bangladesh. As Bangladeshi publishers and authors are not coming this year, there will be a hindrance to the smooth flow of knowledge in literature. We are feeling the void. It is very sad indeed,” noted educationist Pabitra Sarkar said.

For popular Bengali author Ullas Mallick, it would be very heart-breaking to see no Bangladeshi publishers and authors. “The matter has become a political issue and I think we have to figure out a solution politically. There is no point in staying away from books in anger or in dismay,” Mallick added.

This year, around 10,000 books are expected to be released at the book fair. Last year, around 27 lakh people visited the fair and books worth ₹23 crore were sold.





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