Stall at book fair vandalised for selling Taslima Nasrin's books

A group of miscreants have vandalised the stall of Sabyasachi Prakashoni at the Amar Ekushey Book Fair, alleging that it was selling books by Joy Bangla's agent, Awami Fascist ally and exiled writer Taslima Nasrin.

Publisher Shatabdi Bhabo was taken into police custody after being attacked and surrounded on Monday (February 10) evening. The administration has closed the stall. Police have also taken up positions there.

Police initially said that Sabyasachi Prakashoni’s stall (number 128) at the fair and publisher Shatabdi Bhabo were attacked over allegations of showcasing and selling Taslima Nasrin's book ‘Chumbon’.

Witnesses said the attackers removed all the books from the stall and the stall has been closed.

Shahbagh Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Khalid Mansur said, “We are investigating the entire matter and will talk about it in detail later.”

Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Ramna Division Deputy Commissioner (DC) Masud Alam said there was a scuffle with Shatabdi Bhabo at the stall. He has been taken to the police station.

He also said that appropriate legal action will be taken and a case will be filed against him for the 'crime' he committed.

In the afternoon, publisher Shatabdi Bhabo said in a video message on his own Facebook ID, “Taslima Nasrin's book 'Chumbon', meaning ‘kiss’, and the author's name have been banned from the book fair.”

In the video message, he also mentioned that people were being incited to vandalise their stalls since last night.

Earlier, in an interview given to Anandabazar Patrika, Sabyasachi's other publisher and actress Sanjana Mehran had said that every year she publishes Taslima Nasrin's books and sells them at the book fair. However, due to the ban on Taslima in Bangladesh, she also received some threats. However, in the past, they did not take a serious form. This year too, she published Taslima's book 'Chumbon' and since then she has been receiving one after another threat messages.