Kolkata, Dec 3 () Publishers of Bengali literature from West Bengal might get an opportunity to showcase and market their publications in Bangladesh soon.
Just as the Bangladesh Book fair is organised in Kolkata annually for the last ten years, similarly, there might be a Kolkata Book Fair or West Bengal Book Fair in Dhaka in the same lines.
A specific assurance has come in this regard from the education minister of Bangladesh, Dipu Moni, who was in Kolkata on the occasion of the inauguration of the 10th Bangladesh Book Fair at College Square in central Kolkata.
Inaugurated on Friday, the book fair will continue till December 11, where 75 publishers from Bangladesh will be showcasing and marketing their publications.
According to Dipu Moni, the books published from West Bengal are in high demand in Bangladesh and are available in almost all the bookstores there. “Just as Bangladesh Book Fair is organised in Kolkata, similarly West Bengal Book Fair will also be organised in our country. All cooperation will be extended on this count by the publishers and writers from Bangladesh,” she said.
The 10th Bangladesh Book Fair is being organised in Kolkata after a gap of two years. During the last two years, the event was not organised because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Overwhelmed by the assurance from Dipu Moni, West Bengal Education Minister Bratya Basu, who is himself an acclaimed thespian from the state, said that just as the Bangladesh Book Fair in Kolkata gives an opportunity for the readers here to get access to a wide variety of literarily rick publications from Bangladesh, similar book fair for the publisher from West Bengal there will offer the same opportunity for the readers in Bangladesh.
Dipu Moni also said that she never feels that West Bengal is in a foreign nation despite the requirements for passport and visa. “Our Prime Minister enjoys an extremely cordial relationship with the West Bengal chief minister, Mamata Banerjee just as she does with the Indian Prime Minister,” Dipu Moni said.
src/shb/