A group of madrasa students recently attacked a stall at the ongoing Amar Ekushey Boi Mela (book fair) in Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka for displaying a book written by exiled writer Taslima Nasreen.
The incident took place around 6:15pm on Monday at the stall of Sabyasachi Publication in the Suhrawardy Udyan, reported The Daily Star.
Witnesses told the local newspaper that a group of people gathered in front of the stall around 6:15pm and demanded the removal of Taslima’s books.
A person inside the stall protested over the matter, leading to a heated exchange of words between the two sides, media reports said.
Police later reached the spot and covered the stall with a tarpaulin.
Shahbagh Police Station Inspector (operations) Delwar Hossain told The Daily Star that they took a person into their custody.
He did not disclose the person’s identity, saying that further details would be provided later.
Prof Mohammad Azam, director general of Bangla Academy, confirmed to the newspaper that the book stall was shut down by cops to maintain law and order.
“After hearing about the incident, we spoke with the law enforcement agencies. A Bangla Academy taskforce is working on the matter. Action will be taken based on its observations,” he said.
Taslima Nasreen reacts
Taslima Nasreen accused the interim government of the country of supporting extremist forces.
Sharing a video of the attack on X, Nasreen wrote: “Today, jihadist religious extremists attacked the stall of the publisher Sabyasachi at Bangladesh’s book fair. Their ‘crime’ was publishing my book.”
“The book fair authorities and the police from the local station ordered the removal of my book. Even after it was removed, the extremists attacked, vandalized the stall, and shut it down. The government is supporting these extremists, and jihadist activities are spreading across the country,” she said.
Muhammad Yunus condemns
Bangladesh interim government chief Muhammad Yunus condemned the attack and said such an incident betrayed the open-minded spirit of this great Bangladeshi cultural fixture.
“The attack shows contempt for both the rights of Bangladeshi citizens and for the laws of our country. 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,” he said in a statement shared by his Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam as quoted by Dhaka Tribune.
