Want to restore Bangla Academy’s Boi Mela to its previous splendor

Habibullah Siraji speaks to DOT : 
We are trying to present this year’s Boi Mela with a different experience. The theme of the fair is the Language Movement of ’52 to 1971’s Liberation War.
This is why the fair is divided among five courtyards named after five language martyrs – four of these are in Suhrawardy Udyan and the other on Bangla Academy grounds. One of the stalls will be named after the architect of our independence Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. This symbol of independence has been included as a part of this year’s arrangements.
We have also noticed that visitors are having trouble walking to the fair, from Shahbag to the fair gate – dilapidated roads, polluted sidewalks, smell of waste, rickshaw-vans parked at the side of roads, tree branches and leaves obstructing roads and sidewalks, etc. Together with Dhaka University authorities, Metrorail authorities and City Corporation, we saw the reality of the situation yesterday. The Metrorail authorities gave their word that they will carpet the road from Shahbag to Doyel Chottor before the fair begins. The City Corporation will monitor this and said that police will see to the illegally parked rickshaws and vans.
Just like every year, security will be beefed up. This year, we will increase the number of Ansar deployed, plus we are also considering deploying volunteers. We also had talks with the authorities regarding dependable electricity supply. We also increased capacity as well as making sure visitors will be able to rest. Overall, we have tried to bring a change to the planning this year.
We have taken measures to accommodate the elderly and disabled. There are arrangements for wheel chairs and road and pathways inside the fairgrounds have been greatly amended to ensure hassle-free movement of wheelchairs. However, we haven’t provided any separate entryways for them. Perhaps we could provide another gate if the crowd is too overwhelming.
The total area for this year’s fair stands at three hundred thousand square feet. At least 750 units and 450 publishers will participate. CCTVs will be installed from Shahbag to Doyel Chottor. We don’t want to take any risk regarding security. State Minister KM Khalid has been coming to the venue everyday to observe preparations. He has been monitoring all aspects of the fair.
This year’s book monitoring will start from February 1. As per regulations, there will be no antinational books. A few books will be promoted everyday and book covers of new releases will be revealed as well. Every year, we plan a theme for Boi Mela, about which we notify the publishers beforehand so that they can prepare what books to debut, etc. Nevertheless, they still have freedom regarding book selection. I don’t know how much of the regulations they will obey, but we will definitely prepare the festivities around the established theme.
Although we increased the capacity of the fair to prevent harassment, we did not increase the number of units in the fair. We focused chiefly on security this time around. Parking arrangements have been made from TSC all the way to University grounds. In the future, maybe we will be able to bring parking to Suhrawardy Udyan.
A separate children’s zone has been created for kids, and special arrangements have been made for them as well, just like every year.
I only recently joined the preparation activities, haven’t had much hand in the efforts. Just give me a bit more time, not only will I restore Bangla Academy’s Boi Mela to its previous splendor, I will take it to greater heights than ever seen before.
Poet Habibullah Siraji is the Director General of Bangla Academy
Interview by Kamrul Hasan
Translated by Abrar Hussain