There is a battle on, and it is not against books and book-lovers. This is where most critics of the high court verdict stopping the book fair at the Park Circus Maidan have got everything wrong. The battle is against any commercial use of a public space. There is an absolute scarcity of public and green spaces in Calcutta, and these or even parts of these should not be handed over to anybody or any organization for commercial use. Holding commercial fairs in public places is tantamount to abuse of that space, and cannot be supported in any civilized society. The fact that the book fair — the biggest commercial fair in the city of Calcutta — had over the years polluted the biggest public and green space in the city (the Maidan), only strengthens the more fundamental argument that public spaces are not open for commercial exploitation. It is unfortunate that this fundamental point has been lost sight of in the petty and utterly misdirected polemic which says that the court judgment and those who support it are against books.

There is another bizarre aspect to this entire episode that deserves to be noted. The organizer of the book fair in Calcutta is the Publishers and Booksellers Guild, a body of private entrepreneurs connected with the book trade. This organization’s claims to holding its annual fair at the Park Circus maidan were challenged in court by some concerned citizens and civil society bodies. As the incident unfolded and once the judgment had been delivered, it became clear that the government of West Bengal, beginning with the chief minister himself, had actually taken sides in the matter. This became obvious in the manner in which the government upheld the claims of the Guild to hold the fair not only at Park Circus, but also at the original venue, the Maidan. It is not clear why the government of West Bengal took a position in a case that involved an organization of private businessmen against members of the civil society. The state should have had nothing to do with the matter, and remained a mere spectator.

If the government of West Bengal and its first minister feels that books and the reading of books should be encouraged by the state, there are other ways of carrying out such a noble project. For example, it could provide fiscal incentives for greater book-buying through higher library grants. Supporting book fairs to be held in public parks and greens is not the best way to promote reading and the sale of books. In India, there is a well-trodden path for the state to support businesses: providing subsidies through direct state subventions. Why does the government of West Bengal not try this route instead of directly encouraging booksellers and publishers to abuse parks and the open areas of the city? It is clear that proponents of fairs in parks need simple lessons in logical thinking.