The 40th Agartala Book fair kicked off from Friday at Agartala Hapania International fair Ground with the theme – ‘My Tripura My Pride’.
The speaker of the Tripura legislative Assembly Ratan Chakraborty inaugurated the 11-day long book fair in presence of the Information and Cultural Affairs Minister Sushanta Chowdhury, State Minister for Culture of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh and MP K M Khalid and others.
Inaugurating the fair on Friday speaker Ratan Chakraborty said that amid the digitization drive and the touch of modernity, the smell of new books attracts the book lovers at large. He said that at a time when people wander under the open and acquire knowledge, books having invaluable resources of knowledge takes one to thousand years ago.
Bangladesh MP K M Khalid said that India’s relations with Bangladesh are one of passion, love and brotherhood. Recalling the contribution of Tripura in the liberation war of Bangladesh, he said, “The way Tripura stood by Bangladesh in the liberation war, it will never be possible to repay the debt.”
He said there is a striking resemblance between the cultures of the two countries. This culture, the flow of tradition can be confined within geographical boundaries and cannot be kept away from the bond.
Referring to the way in which the present Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi has extended his hand of cooperation to Bangladesh in various fields, he said that relations with Bangladesh have been further strengthened during the tenure of the present Government of India.
ICA Minister Sushant Chowdhury presided over the inaugural function of the 40th Agartala Book Fair and called for expanding the scope of knowledge through this fair. He said the Department of Information and Culture does not only work on expanding the scope of knowledge, but also creates awareness among people to acquire knowledge.
Minister for Tribal Welfare Mewar Kumar Jamatia, state cooperation minister Ramprasad Pal, mayor of Agartala Municipal Corporation Deepak Majumder, Secretary of ICA P K Goel, Director of ICA Ratan Biswas among others were present in the inaugural function of the book fair on Friday.
Publishers and booksellers from different states including Kolkata, Delhi and Bangladesh took part in the book fair. A total of 162 book stalls were set up in the fair this year. Kabi Sanmelan will be held from March 26 to 27 and again from April 1 to 3. Government had arranged at least 10 bus services for different routes to facilitate the people to visit the book fair.
