'Ekushey Book Fair' draws huge crowd
The 'Amar Ekushey Book Fair' witnessed an enormous crowd on Friday, the Language Martyrs' Day and also the International Mother Language Day, reports UNB.Individuals were seen standing in long queues from Shaheed Mianr, Doel Chattar, TSC, and Shahbagh to Bangla Academy access to enter the main fair venue.
On your day of Ekushey February, the book fair was opened at 8am and continued till 9pm in order that people who came to the Central Shaheed Minar for paying homage to the Language Movement martyrs could go to the fair. After paying homage to the martyrs, persons flocked the book fair with friends and families.
The crowd got bigger as time passed. Folks of all ages, especially students and parents with their children, were found looking at books at different stalls.
Engineer Shakil Mahmud from Rayerbag Jatrabari, who came with his friends, said they went to Shaheed Minar in the morning and paid tributes to the martyrs by inserting wreaths there before arriving at the book fair. "It is important to convey the history to the brand new generation.
Quality books ought to be produced in order that the young can learn about history," he said. As the Shishu Prohor (children's hour) was also celebrated on a single day, the fairground was abuzz with children. The fair has dedicated two hours - 11am to 1pm - specifically for children. Children were playing, buying books and capturing with the characters of Sisimpur at Shishu Chhattar, a platform dedicated to children in the fair for learning and playing as well.
Sharif Imtiaz, from Mirpur, who brought his 9-year-old son, said Amar Ekushey includes a special significance for the united states and its persons and the brand new generation has to be introduced to the annals. Imtiaz said that he brought his son to the fair to see books and find out about the Language Movement and know the annals.
"We also visited the central Shaheed Minar and paid tributes to the language heroes," he said. The stall attendants were seen busy coping with visitors and big smiles flashed on the faces of the publishers as the crowd got only bigger. Hridoy Hossain, a salesman of Charulipi, said they recorded their highest sales of the fair on Friday.
"People are more interested about book and novels on Liberation War," he said. This year, 873 units were assigned to the 560 organizations. The authorities have allotted 179 units at the Bangla Academy ground to 126 organizations and 694 at the Suhrawardy Udyan to 694 organizations. The fair remains open from 3pm to 9pm on weekdays and from 11am to 9 pm on weekends.
