Prokashok Oikko ‘finally’ returns to book fair

Suspense centring the arrangements for the Amar Ekushey Book Fair 2026, involving all the major publishing houses, has surpassed even the confusion of a thriller novel, as Prokashok Oikko, a platform of over 300 publishers, has “finally” decided to participate in the fair, changing its mind at least for the fourth time.
Prokashok Oikko has withdrawn the decision it took on Saturday to not participate in the Amar Ekushey Book Fair, stating that the government has accepted the publishers’ conditions regarding the book fair.
This was announced by Mahrukh Mohiuddin, managing director of the University Press Limited (UPL), at a press conference held at the Jatiya Press Club in the capital on Monday.
Earlier, the organisation had declared that it would not take part in the Amar Ekushey Book Fair, citing a lack of transparency in stall and pavilion allocations and insufficient preparation time.
Addressing the press conference, Mahrukh said that, in the interest of ensuring equal rights for all participants at this year’s book fair, Prokashok Oikko had decided not to take any pavilion and had also demanded that no other publisher be allotted pavilions.
“When it became clear that the pavilions were not being dismantled and our conditions were not being met, we issued a statement announcing our withdrawal from the fair. But the Ministry of Cultural Affairs, Bangla Academy, and the Bangladesh Publishers and Booksellers Association (BAPUS) reached a sincere understanding last night, and the government has accepted our conditions, prompting us to decide to participate in the book fair,” she said.
The UPL managing director further said that the publishers’ initial demand was to organise the book fair after Eid, considering practical realities, but they received no response from the interim government at the time.
“Following the swearing-in of the new government, the minister and state minister of the Ministry of Cultural Affairs held discussions with publishers. During those talks, the publishers presented three conditions, and the government assured them of fulfilling those. Subsequently, more than 200 publishers submitted applications on the 19th of this month,” she said.
But, according to Prokashok Oikko, on Saturday evening, the cultural affairs secretary informed them over the phone that cancelling the pavilions was not possible and requested them to participate in the fair this year while retaining the pavilions.
Then, being compelled by the realities of the situation, Prokashok Oikko decided to refrain from participating in this year’s book fair.
Meshbah Uddin of Ahmed Publishing House, Syed Zakir Hossain of Adorn Publications, Dipankar Das of Batighar Publications, and Mahbub Rahman of Adarsha Prokashani, among others, were present at the press conference.