The Kolkata International Book Fair program, which was made public on Friday, does not list Bangladesh as a participating nation for the first time in 28 years. Since the Sheikh Hasina government took power in Bangladesh in 1996, the neighboring nation has participated in every edition of the city book fair.
Hasina herself went to the expo in 1999, when Bangladesh was the featured nation. Tridib Chatterjee, the president of the guild, stated that they had not yet gotten any guidance from the Center regarding Bangladesh’s involvement. “Given the current circumstances, we are unable to comment on Bangladesh’s involvement until we get any instructions from the government. Germany is the book fair’s inaugural theme nation. Currently, the United Kingdom, the United States, France, Italy, Spain, Peru, Argentina, and Colombia are among the countries taking part. The Publishers and Booksellers Guild is organizing the 48th Kolkata International Book Fair (KIBF), which will take place at Salt Lake from January 28 to February 9. There will be 1,050 stalls at the 2025 KIBF, much like this year.” Around 1,300 publishers have already applied to participate in the fair this time,” he added, adding that over 27 lakh book enthusiasts attended the 2024 event, generating book sales of roughly Rs 23 crore.
After 28 years, Bangladesh is still not listed among the participating nations at the Kolkata Book Fair
