Bangladesh: Chief Advisor Yunus condemns mob attack at book fair, orders probe

This comes after a group of madrasa students on Monday had attacked a stall at the Amar Ekushey Book Fair in Dhaka over the display of book written by Taslima Nasreen, who is in exile in India as per police and eyewitness' accounts.

"The Chief Adviser strongly condemns the mob attack on a bookstall at Ekushey Book Fair. The attack shows contempt for both the rights of Bangladeshi citizens and for the laws of our country," the Chief Advisor's office said in a statement.

"Such violence betrays the open-minded spirit of this great Bangladeshi cultural fixture, which commemorates the language martyrs who lost their lives on February 21, 1952 in defence of their mother tongue. Today, the Ekushey Boimela (Ekushey Book Fair) is a daily meeting place for our writers and readers," the statement added.

The interim government has instructed police and the Bangla Academy to probe the incident and has direcred security agencies to take "strong measures" to stop "any incidents of mob violence" in the country.

"The Interim Government has ordered police and the Bangla Academy to investigate the incident and bring the culprits to book. Police have been ordered to step up security in the fair and make sure no untoward incidents take place in this very important space. The government has also ordered the concerned security agencies to take strong measures to stop any incidents of mob violence in the country," the Chief Advisor's office said in a statement.

According to police and eyewitnesses, the incident took place at the book stall of Sabyasachi Publication, the publisher of Nasreen.

"A group of agitators came to Sabyasachi Prakashani and started shouting first why Taslima Nasreen's book was kept in the stall. Later Publisher Shatabdi Bhava was attacked by the people. They threw away Taslima's book", a witness had said.

"Later, the situation came under control after police picked up Publisher Shatabdi Bhava and the agitators from the spot," they added.

"Additional police were sent after receiving information about the disturbance at the book fair. The panic was there due to tensions between some students of the Qaumi Madrasa and the publisher of Sabyasachi Prokashoni," Police Official Masud Alam told ANI over the phone.

"We brought both parties to the police station. We are trying to find out the reason of the tensions. The situation is completely under control," he added.

Purported videos of the attack has gone viral on social media. Taslima Nasreen shared one such video on X.

"Today, jihadist religious extremists attacked the stall of the publisher Sabyasachi at Bangladesh's book fair. Their 'crime' was publishing my book," Taslima Nasreen wrote on X.

"The book fair authorities and the police from the local station ordered the removal of my book. Even after it was removed, the extremists attacked, vandalized the stall, and shut it down," she added.

"The government is supporting these extremists, and jihadist activities are spreading across the country," Nasreen said.

Taslima Nasreen is a Bangladeshi writer, physician, feminist, and secular activist.

On February 21, 1952, several activists from East Pakistan (present Bangladesh) sacrificed their lives to establish Bangla as the state language. For remembering their sacrifice a book fair is organised by Bangla Academy and featured as the Amar Ekushey book fair held annually in the month of February.

It is one of the largest book fairs in South Asia held at Bangla Academy courtyard and the historic Suhrawardy Udyan. Books of different genres and subjects are available in the fair. (ANI)