The number of new books on the War of Independence has dropped significantly at the ongoing month-long Amar Ekushey Book Fair 2025 organised by the Bangla Academy.
Publishers said on Tuesday that readers鈥� interest in and enthusiasm for publications on the War of Independence considerably waned.
They also pointed out that they were not getting quality and thoroughly researched manuscripts.聽聽
According to Bangla Academy officials, only 17 new books on the war were published at the fair until February 25.
Tania Akter, chief executive officer of Gronthik Prokashan said that the demand for books on the War of Independence declined due to lack of authentic information and original manuscripts.
鈥楾his year we published only one book on the War of Independence due to lack of good manuscripts,鈥� Tania Akter said, adding that the topic of War of Independence has already been overdone and readers accept only those remarkable ones.
Tasnia Ishrat Itu, a salesperson of Gyankosh, said that this year they published a book on the issue and readers showed little interest in it.
Saeed Bari, the chief executive of publishing house Sucheepatra, said that most of the writers and publishers gained favour from the previous government by publishing books on the War of Independence while most of the books were monolithic and were filled with false evidence decreasing the number of readers.
Cultural activist and poet Rahman Mofiz said that over the past 17 years a large number of books written on the issue were targeted for gaining political favour from the fascist government.
鈥楻eaders avoid biased historical propaganda because they buy books by their own money,鈥� said Rahman Mofiz.
A total of 101 new titles including 23 collections of poems, 18 collections of short stories and six collections of articles were published on Tuesday at the fair, according to the Bangla Academy officials.
Chaired by Faiz Ahmad Taiyeb, a discussion titled Rebuild Bangladesh: Education and Technology by Samina Luthfa will be held on the academy premises on Wednesday and Kallol Mustafa and Ehsan Mahmud will speak at the event.
