President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in separate messages on Saturday wished success of the month-long ‘Amar Ekushey Book Fair 2020’ whice began on Bangla Academy premises on Sunday.
The President and the Prime Minister paid their rich tributes to the martyrs of the historic Language Movement on the occasion of Amar Ekushey Book Fair.
In his message, Abdul Hamid said, “I appreciate the initiative of publishing 100 books on Bangabandhu by Bangla Academy apart from dedicating the book fair to Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on the occasion of his birth centenary”.
In her message, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina greeted all, including Bangla Academy and local and foreign publishers, involved in arranging the ‘Amar Ekushey Book Fair’.
“In this day, I pay due respect to the memories of the all Language Movement martyrs, including Salam, Barkat, Rafique, Jabber and Shafique. I also pay profound tributes to the leader of the Language Movement Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and all language veterans,” she said.
Referring to the Awami League government’s contributions in declaring the February 21 as International Mother Language Day in 1999, the premier said, “I have already raised a demand in the United Nations (UN) General Assembly for declaring the Bangla as an official language of the UN”.
“We have established the ‘International Mother Language Institute’ in the capital Dhaka aiming at protecting, flourishing and practicing all mother languages of the world,” she continued.
Noting that on the occasion of the birth centenary of Bangabandhu, Bangla Academy will publish 100 books on the life and works of Bangabandhu gradually during the month-long book fair from today, Sheikh Hasina said the book ‘Amar Dekha Naya Chin’ (The New China as I Saw) written by Bangabandhu is one of the attractions.
She hoped that the new book of Bangabandhu will get popularity to the local and foreign readers like – ‘Asamapta Atmajiboni’ (Bangabandhu’s Unfinished Memoirs) and ‘Karagarer Rojnamcha’ (Diary in Jail).
Pointing that Book fair awakens the human being’s existence, sense of living and spirit, the Prime Minister urged the writers and publishers to uphold the real history of the Liberation War and Bangabandhu through their writings.
Urging all for creating habit of book reading, Sheikh Hasina said, “It should be our pledge in the Amar Ekushe Book Fair that we will work together for building the hunger-poverty-free and happy -prosperous Sonar Bangladesh dreamt by father of the nation forgetting the all differences”.
