The Publishers and Booksellers Guild began its familiar lobbying at Writers’ Buildings on Friday after the army turned down its request for permission to hold next year’s Book Fair on the Maidan.
“We had written to Fort William seeking use of any part of the Maidan for holding the fair in January. The army authorities wrote back tersely, stating that they would not grant us permission,” said guild general secretary Tridib Chatterjee on Friday afternoon.
In their application, the Guild had pointed out that the Calcutta High Court judgment banning Book Fair on the Maidan had been for 2007 only and nothing prevented it from seeking permission to host the next edition of the fair on the patch of green in the heart of the city.
Following the snub, Chatterjee and guild ground secretary Sudhanshu Dey went to the state secretariat to brief the government. They met the chief minister’s private secretary, Sailesh Mukherjee.
The guild had done the same thing last winter, after the army, the custodians of the Maidan, did not allow it to host Book Fair there. The chief minister had pulled strings in Delhi and obtained a clearance from the defence ministry.
Environment activists, however, had moved the high court, which put a stop to the fair on the Maidan, citing environment hazards. The guild had to dismantle the structures it had put up on the Maidan barely a week before the fair’s scheduled opening.
The government then allowed the guild to hold the fair in the area outside the Salt Lake stadium.
This time, the Guild has stated that it will not hold the fair outside the stadium. “The stadium is not what one can call the heart of Calcutta. Our member-publishers are not willing to go there,” said Chatterjee.
Apart from lobbying with the government for another intervention, the guild has three choices, according to sources in the organisation. Rabindra Sarobar stadium, Milan Mela grounds, off EM Bypass, and Park Circus Maidan are the alternative venues.
Rabindra Sarobar may not be an option because of environmental concerns, while Milan Mela may not be ready in time for the fair.
