PM Inaugurates 'Amar Ekushey Book Fair, 2015'

She also handed over the 'Bangla Academy Literary Award 2014' to the nominees at the inaugural ceremony.

Cultural Affairs Minister Asaduzzaman Noor was present as the special guest at the function presided over by Chairman of the academy Professor Emeritus Anisuzzaman.

Cultural Affairs Secretary Dr Ranjit Kumer Biswas and Director General of Bangla Academy Shamsuzzaman Khan, German litterateur Hans Hurder, Belgium litterateur Father Datien, French writer Professor Frans Bhattacharya and former vice-chancellor, researcher and linguistic of Rabindra Bharati University of India Dr Pabitra Sarkar also spoke at the function.

The Prime Minister said her government had brought everything under rules and discipline. "We have been distributing textbooks for free on the very first day of the year and holding and publishing results of the exams on time.

"We wanted the students to be groomed as worthy citizens. But calling hartal on the first day of the SSC exams, the BNP-Jammat are out to choke the path of study and exams of the examinees."

Terming the present BNP-Jamaat movement as militant and terrorist acts, Sheikh Hasina urged the people to put up strong resistance against them.

"Killing people by pouring petrol or hurling molotov cocktails cannot be a political movement. It is a militant and terrorist act. We want militant and terrorist activities be uprooted from Bangladesh for ever," she said, adding the people want to remain in peace and move in peace.

The Prime Minister said it is always unfortunate for the nation and its people when the country goes towards socioeconomic development and prosperity, black cloud grips the country and extreme attack is made on it.

"When the country is holding the Ekushey Book Fair and the International Literary Conference, at that time the air is getting thick with the screaming of the burnt people at the Burn Unit, and groaning of mother who lost her son, the wife who lost her husband and the son who lost his mother and father," she said.

"I cannot understand why such crimes are being committed and what crimes the innocent people including house tutors, teachers, doctors, truck and CNG drivers, day-labourers and lower class and middle class people did that they would be burnt to death," she said.

The Prime Minister said the BNP-Jamaat will have to pay the price and take time for correcting the error they did by not participating in the January 5 polls. But why the innocent people would pay the price for their mistake, she posed a question.

Sheikh Hasina expressed her firm resolve that Bangladesh earned independence through a war of liberation. So people of the country won't bow or accept defeat to the terrorists and militants.

The Prime Minister said those who opposed the emergence of Bangladesh are still conspiring against the country, state and the people.

To foil the January 5 polls, she said, they torched and damaged 582 schools. The Prime Minister said skipping the elections was their political error. At a time when the people are safe and in peace BNP-Jamaat evil forces are trying to shift their political mistake to the common people.

Sheikh Hasina said Bangladesh would advance towards the highway of development by facing all evil forces."We would build a happy and prosperous Sonar Bangla free from hunger, poverty, communalism and militancy Insha Allah," she said. "We would practice literature side by side with ensuring socioeconomic uplift," she added.

The Prime Minister said the Language Movement is the name of a glorious and heroic struggle for establishing the rights and dignity of the mother tongue.

"Sacrificing the life for language is a rare incident in the world history. We are now the citizens of an independent country, and the Language Movement initiated the struggle for independence," she said.

Sheikh Hasina said sixty years of establishment of Bangla Academy is going to be completed. "On the occasion of completion of sixty years, I recall with deep respect all who were involved in founding Bangla Academy," she said.

The Prime Minister said Bangla Academy witnessed massive progress in its infrastructure and research activities during our period.

The Prime Minister said Ekushey Book Fair now has been turned into a fair of hearts of greater Bangalees. "A gathering of the people of various parts of the country is not only made in Ekushey Book Fair, the Bangalee poets, writers and readers living in different places of the world also assemble centering the fair," she said.

Sheikh Hasina said the area of the fair was expanded to historic Suhrawardy Udyan in front of Bangla Academy last year as per the demand.

"We have started work on building the entire area as a "Bangalee Cultural Ring" centering the Suhrawardy Udyan," she said.

She said Ekushey February was recognized as the International Mother Language Day thanks to preliminary initiatives of Canada expatriates late Rafikul Islam and Abdus Salam and active efforts of the Awami League government. "In this way, Banglar Ekushey has been turned into Ekushey of the World," she said.

Highlighting the background of arranging the first International Literary Conference at Bangla Academy in 1974, the Prime Minister said Bangabandhu inaugurated that conference. After four decades, she said, the Bangla Academy has arranged the International Literary Conference titled "Ei Samoyer Sahitya" in greater area.

"This conference has given a scope to us to know the contemporary world literature and I hope it would open a new door for practicing literature and languages," she said.

Later, the Prime Minister visited different stalls of the book fair.

The winners of Bangla Academy Literary Award-2014 are: Poet Shihab Sarkar (Poetry), Zakir Talukdar (Fiction), Professor Shantanu Kaisar (Essay), Professor Bhuiyan Iqbal (Research), Professor Abu Muhammad Delowar Hossain (Liberation War Literature), Mainus Sultan (Travelogue) and Khaled Bin Zainuddin (Juvenile Literature).

The award carries a cheque for Taka one lakh, a crest and a certificate.

Forty-eight poets from 12 foreign countries, including Bangladesh, the USA, France, Germany, Belgium, Sweden, Malaysia and India, are participating in the four-day Second International Literary Conference-2015.

Around 300 organisations are taking part in this year's book fair. Among those, 230 are mainstream publishing houses while 26 children's book publication houses and 18 government organisations.

The stalls for the mainstream publishing houses have been placed inside the Suhrawardy Udyan while stalls for children's book publishing houses, little magazine corners, government organisations and the Bangla Academy inside the Bangla Academy compound.

There would be seminars, discussions and cultural events on the main stage on the Bangla Academy premises alongside the book fair.