Attack on book fair stall a betrayal of open-minded spirit of Bangladeshi culture: CA

Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus strongly condemned the mob attack on Monday (10 February) evening on an Ekushey Book Fair stall for displaying a book written by Taslima Nasrin. 

"The attack shows contempt for both the rights of Bangladeshi citizens and for the laws of our country," he said in a press statement issued by the CA's Press Wing.

"Such violence betrays the open-minded spirit of this great Bangladeshi cultural fixture, which commemorates the language martyrs who lost their lives on 21 February 1952 in defence of their mother tongue," the press statement reads.

Today, the Ekushey Boimela is a daily meeting place for our writers and readers, it adds.

The statement further says that 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," it adds. 

Moreover, it says that the government has also ordered the concerned security agencies to take strong measures to stop any incidents of mob violence in the country.

Earlier on the day, a group of agitated people besieged the stall of Sabyasachi Publication at the Amar Ekushey Book Fair for reportedly displaying a book written by Taslima Nasrin, who is in exile in neighbouring India.

Several videos of the incident have gone viral on social media platforms.

In one of the videos, the crowd can be heard asking a writer, who was present in the stall, to "hold his ears". 

The Dhaka Tribune, in a report, identified the writer as Shatabdi Vobo.

"He was taken out of the fair with the help of police. At that time, the writer had to publicly apologise. The stall was temporarily closed immediately after this," the Dhaka Tribune report states.

Citing Bangla Academy authorities, the report also said the stall had been reopened after the temporary closure.

Following the incident, several government officials and agencies have issued strong statements against mob violence in the country.

Within hours, in a post on his verified Facebook profile, Adviser Mahfuj Alam said, "If you are in favour of the uprising, stop mob violence, and if you don't stop it, you will be treated as devils." 

Mahfuj said the interim government will deal with mob violence with a strong hand from now on. 

He also said, "No more requests will be made after today's incident. It is not your job to take the law into your own hands."

Later, in a statement, the police headquarters also echoed a similar sentiment.

"In recent times, it has come to the attention of the police that anti-social people are issuing various types of threats to people of different classes and professions in the country. Making any kind of threat to any person is a crime in the eyes of the law," the police statement reads.

"If anti-social forces threaten any peace-loving citizen, strict legal action will be taken against them," it adds.