Dhaka //

Inaugurating the month-long Amar Ekushey Book Fair at Bangla Academy, Chief Advisor Dr. Muhammad Yunus said, the historic uprising of students and the masses on August 5 last year brought down the dictatorial government that had been on the nation’s shoulders for 16 years. This unprecedented sacrifice of our brave youth has shocked the world. Through this victory, a steely determination to build a new Bangladesh has come. The uprising achieved through their great sacrifice has brought us to this book fair with new significance.

He said these things in his speech after inaugurating the Amar Ekushey Book Fair at Bangla Academy on Saturday afternoon.

The Chief Advisor said, today I remember with deep respect all the brave students, masses and workers who lost their lives and were brutally injured in the mass uprising led by the students in July. The theme of this year’s book fair is the July Uprising and building a new Bangladesh through it.

Dr. Yunus said, Ekushey has always meant awakening. Ekushey means facing one’s identity. Ekushey means endless struggle. Expanding one’s horizons even further. The perspective of this Ekushey has placed us on a new horizon. The commitment that was in the blood of Barkat, Salam, Rafiq, and Jabbar had the great explosive power to ensure the July Uprising. After half a century, this great explosion changed the country by becoming a mass uprising. This explosion instilled in us the determination to build a new Bangladesh. We have come to take an oath on this determination through this immortal Ekushey ceremony.

The Chief Advisor said, Ekushey is the identity of our core being. Ekushey is the strong bond of our unity. This bond transcends all distances, big and small, logical and irrational, temporary and permanent. That is why we rush to the Shaheed Minar in all kinds of national festivals, crises and disasters. There we find peace. We find relief. We find solutions. We find the temporarily invisible unity again. 21 has shaped our minds in this way. Ekushe shows us the way. Just six months ago, the July mass uprising united the nation to a historical depth. Because of which we have found the courage to prepare to make a country devastated economically, politically, institutionally and humanly to reach its intended destination again at the fastest speed.

He said, the pull of Ekushey is beyond age. Beyond generations. Not only has the pull of Ekushey spread generation after generation, this pull has also deepened. It has made us brave. The uprising of the students and the masses is a shining proof of that. The students have jumped in to transform the Bangladesh of nightmare into a new Bangladesh. They have made the impossible possible. Our young men and women, teenagers have painted their dreams, their aspirations, their demands on the walls of the streets with incredible determination. Our street walls have now been transformed into historical documents. Their place is now in our hearts, in museums.

I congratulate the students who have made it to the fair. They have presented them beautifully. If the pictures drawn by these young men and women, teenagers, could be exhibited in a part of the book fair, the buyers and visitors coming to the book fair would have benefited.

The advisor said, the book fair organized by the Bangla Academy has become an integral part of our national life. Gradually, its qualitative and organizational evolution will continue. Writers and writers prepare throughout the year to complete their respective books on time to present them at the book fair. Publishers organize many events to present their books on time. To create quality competition and increase interest, if we organize the best author recognition every year based on the subject, it would be helpful for the authors to get this recognition and the best authors to get the best publisher. I propose this.

Dr. Yunus said, if we see the Ekushey language movement in a deeper perspective as a freedom movement, then the immortal Ekushey boundary becomes wider. Then we can recognize teenagers and young people for their creativity through different institutions, we can recognize them for becoming new entrepreneurs. We can recognize men and women from cities and villages who have contributed to the nation in agriculture, industry, the cultural world, science, commerce and education and other fields in a particular year, we can organize formal events for them. We can recognize the contributions of expatriate Bangladeshis and expatriate workers. Bangladeshis are showing their achievements in various fields all over the world. We want to remember all of them on Ekushey. They all celebrate their country on Ekushey. They introduce us to their children as part of our family.

I don’t think you have to accept everything I say. But when I got the chance to speak, I spoke my mind, said the advisor.

Advisor on Cultural Affairs Mostafa Sarwar Farooqui was present as a special guest at the opening ceremony of the book fair. Bangla Academy President Professor Abul Kashem Fazlul Haque presided over the ceremony.

Any of your opinions will be welcomed.