Shawdesh desk:

The Amar Ekushey Book Fair, the country’s largest book festival, begins today at Bangla Academy and its adjacent Suhrawardy Udyan in the capital on Thursday maintaining health guidelines amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is scheduled to inaugurate the event at 3:00pm through video conferencing from her official residence Ganabhaban.

State Minister for Cultural Affairs KM Khalid will be present as special guest while Bangla Academy President Prof Shamsuzzaman Khan will preside over the event.

The Bangla Academy disclosed the details of the fair at a press conference held at Abdul Karim Sahitya Bisharad Auditorium of the academy on Tuesday.

This year, Bangla Academy has set the theme of the fair as “Birth Centenary of Bangabandhu and Golden Jubilee of Independence” and the book fair will be dedicated to the memories of the valiant martyrs of the great Liberation War.

The main attraction of the inauguration ceremony is the official publication of the English version of Bangabandhu’s book.

“Amar Dekha Naya Chin” titled “New China 1952”. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, also the daughter of Bangabandhu, will unveil the book at the event.

Speaking at the press conference, Bangla Academy Director General Habibullah Siraji said, “We are going to hold the book fair untimely amid the Covid-19. We used to organise the book fair in February. But this time it will be held from March to April. There are risks of thunderstorm and pandemic. I urge all who will take part in the fair to follow hygiene rules and be patience.”

Like the previous years, the venue of the fair has been extended to the nearby Suhrawardy Udyan.

This year the land earmarked for the fair was expanded to 15,00,000 square ft. A total of 834 units have been allocated to 540 organisations. The authorities have allotted 154 units at the Bangla Academy ground to 107 organisations and 680 at the Suhrawardy Udyan to 433 organisations. There will be 33 pavilions.