The two-day Bengali Literary Festival held at the Bangladesh Bhawan of Visva-Bharti University in West Bengal saw no participation from Bangladesh this year. This comes after several Bangladeshi poets and writers were denied visas amid rising political tensions between India and the neighboring country.
About 20 poets and writers from Bangladesh want to participate in the festival, which started on Saturday, according to Khowai Sahitya Samiti, the organizer of the event.
Kishore Bhattacharya, one of the organizers of the festival and secretary of Khawai Sahitya Patrika, said, ‘Some tried to get visas but were refused and the rest also said they were not given visas.
Bhattacharya said, ‘We have organized a two-day international discussion conference and Hriday Milan Mahotsav under the joint initiative of Bangladesh Bhavan and Khowai Literature Culture. But this time our Bangladeshi friends could not attend this event. We discouraged them from coming here because of the recent tension in their country. We know that discussion and creation of literature is not possible in this turbulent and unstable situation. However, they are sorry, and we are also feeling sad. “
This year Khowai Sahitya Samiti jointly organized the festival with Bangladesh Bhawan. The Bangladesh Building in Vishwa Bharati was built with the financial support of the Sheikh Hasina government. Manvendra Mukherjee, head of Bangladesh Bhavan, said, “This festival is basically to uplift Bengali culture and literature. This would not have been possible without the participation of the poets and writers of Bangladesh.
About 200 Bengali poets and writers from different parts of India like Gujarat, Assam, Tripura and Mumbai, as well as international participants from the USA, Germany and Dubai participated in the event. Acting Vice-Chancellor Vinay Kumar Soren and prominent faculty members of Visva Bharati participated in the festival.
The political situation in Bangladesh has been tense since August 6, when Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had to leave the country amid significant student protests demanding job reservations. Since then, an interim government has been in power under the leadership of Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus. During this period, reports emerged of targeting of minority groups in areas such as Chittagong and Rangpur, causing unrest and concern in India.