"Many times the Bangla Academy has tried to stifle dissent."

The organization protested in a statement signed by student front president Mukta Barai and general secretary Shobhan Rahman on Friday (January 20). The Samajtantrik Chhatra Front strongly condemned and protested against not allotting a stall to the publishing house 'Adarsh' at the Amar Ekushey Book Fair. Along with this, the student organization complained that many times Bangla Academy has tried to prevent the expression of dissent.

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In the statement, the student body said, the institution which was built in the historical context of blood donation for expression in the mother tongue, is today holding the reins of freedom of expression.

The stall of Adarsh Prakashani has been canceled for the publication of only three books that dissent from the ruling party's opinion. Many times before, Bangla Academy has made various attempts to obstruct the process of expression of dissent.

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The statement also said, from this shameful decision, it can be understood that no matter how much the government bullies democracy, freedom of expression, the legal and extra-legal pressure on free expression is evident in Bangladesh.

On the one hand, the freedom of expression of the people is being suppressed in the legal process by creating various restrictive laws including the Digital Security Act, on the other hand, the right of expression of everyone, including journalists, writers, writers, teachers, intellectuals, including journalists, writers, writers, intellectuals, etc.

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The statement called for the immediate return of Adarsh Prakashani's right to stall. In addition, the leaders called upon all conscious democratic circles to raise their voices against the attempts to create illegal barriers and to demand the cancellation of all laws that curtail the right to express dissent, including the Digital Security Act.

It is to be noted that Bangla Academy published the book fair stall allocation list on January 12 for the Amar Ekushe Book Fair 2023, in which several new publishing houses have been placed but the name of 'Adarsh' is not there. It has been reported that Adarsh has been excluded from the list of stall allocation in this year's book fair due to Fayez Ahmed Taiyyab's 'Inconceivable Words of Irresistible Development', Faham Abdus Salam's 'In Search of Bengali Mediocrity' and Zia Hasan's 'Development Illusions'.