In Khulna’s month-long Ekushey Book Fair, books worth about three and a half crores were sold.

Md. Shamim Hossain –

Khulna According to the organizing committee of the fair, about three and a half crores worth of books were sold in 82 stalls of the month-long Ekushey Book Fair in Khulna. In the past book fair, about 1 crore 26 lakh books were sold. The month-long Amar Ekushey Book Fair concluded and prize distribution was held on Tuesday afternoon at Boyarastha Divisional Government Public Library premises. Khulna Divisional Commissioner Md. Zillur Rahman Chowdhury was the chief guest at the closing ceremony. In the chief guest’s speech at the event, the divisional commissioner said that to gain knowledge, one must read books. You can become wise if you read books with your mind. Books enrich our knowledge. Books are one of the accessories in the life of wise people. More books have been sold in the fair this year because people’s interest in books has increased. He urged the parents to encourage the new generation to read more books. He also said that Bengali self-identity has been established through the language movement. Twenty one is our pride, twenty one is our consciousness. The beginning of all movements is held by Akush. Language plays an important role in the development of any society. Additional DIG of Khulna Range Md Iqbal, KMP Additional Commissioner of Police Sardar Rakibul Islam and Deputy Director of Local Government Department Md Yusup Ali spoke as special guests at the event under the chairmanship of Khulna Deputy Commissioner Khandaker Yasir Arefin. The speaker was the Vice-Principal of Government Sundarban Adarsh College. Md. Mizanur Rahman. Brave freedom fighter Md Alamgir Kabir, Sardar Mahabubar Rahman and president of Khulna Book Publishers and Sellers Association Md Alamgir spoke on the occasion. Mohammad Hamidur Rahman, Deputy Director of Khulna Divisional Government Public Library delivered the welcome speech. Khulna district administration organized this program in collaboration with departmental government public library. In the event, the Chief Guest distributed the crests and certificates among the three stall representatives in the best stall category and distributed prizes among the students who won in various competitions. Note that 34 book covers were unveiled at the month-long book fair.