Book lovers stream to fair in droves to protest against writer Avijit's murder

The resolve to fight back and not to give in to fears has seemingly overwhelmed the worries and concerns among the writers, publishers and readers at the Amar Ekushey Book Fair following the killing of Avijit Roy.

The macabre murder stopped the fair in its tracks with a low turnout of visitors on Friday morning. But the ground was bursting at the seams in the afternoon with a huge rush of book lovers.

“I won’t leave this open premises of the book fair out of the fear of getting killed. They’ve killed a man of free thinking. How many can they murder?” Naznin Shifa, an executive at a private firm.

“I won’t be sitting at home because of this gruesome murder. I’ll come to the fair again and again. This is my language of protest,” she added.

Writer and blogger Roy was hacked to death in the busy hours of Thursday night a few hundred yards away from the book fair ground and the Shahbagh Police Station at the Dhaka University.

His wife and fellow blogger Rafida Ahmed Bonya lost a finger on the footpath adjacent to the Suhrawardy Udyan, trying to save him.

Writer Humayun Azad came under a similar attack in the same area 11 years ago during the book fair.

Writers, publishers, artists and readers protested against the murder of Roy at a gathering that stretched from Raju Sculpture at TSC to the book fair.

Academic and Creative Publishers Association President Osman Gani said: “Attempt was made on the life of a writer in 2014 during the book fair. Have they (killer) been tracked down and tried? Trial could not be ensured in 11 years.”

Ahmedur Rashid Tutul of Suddhaswar, which published around a dozen books of Roy, said readers reacted to murder by buying his books.

All the copies of his books ‘Samakamita’ (homosexuality) ‘Bhalobasha Kare Koy’ ( what's love!) and ‘Shunyo Theke Mohabiswa’ (the universe from nothing) flew off the shelves by noon, he said.

But Jahngirnagar University teacher Mahmud Sumon could not shake off his concern at Roy’s murder.

“Who is the next (target)? You or me. None of us is safe. It will not be possible to move around the ground freely from now on,” he said.

Publishers will keep the fair shut for 10 minutes at 4pm on Saturday as a symbolic protest against the killing.