Bangla Academy raised the curtain on the traditional month-long Amar Ekushey Grantha Mela as Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today opened the fair on the Academy premises and at Suhrawardy Udyan.
A four-day ‘International Literature Conference’ will also be held at the fair venue from Thursday, the 2nd day of the book fair.
On the occasion, PM Sheikh Hasina put signature on the “udbhodhani smarak” (opening memento) of the fair and visited different stalls of the fair.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said that literature can prevent children from slipping into a wrong path. She urged all to encourage their children to read literature.
“We can rescue our children from the wrong path they are following these days through our literature,” she said.
Cultural Affairs Minister Asaduzzaman Noor presided over the function, while Director General of Bangla Academy Shamsuzzaman Khan delivered the welcome address. Cultural Affairs Secretary Begum Aktari Mamtaz and Bangla Academy Fellow and publisher Mafidul Haque spoke on the occasion.
Manfred Chobot from Austria, Jona Burghardt and Tobias Burghardt from Germany, Luz Maria Lopez and Maria De Los Angles Camacho Rivas from Puerto Rico and Prof Dong You Chen from China was present at the inaugural ceremony as distinguished foreign guests.
