Although the number of readers interested in the language and culture of the small ethnic groups living in Bangladesh has increased, books are not being published in that proportion as seen in Amar Ekushey Book Fair.

On Wednesday, the 22nd day of the fair, it was found that no new book written about minority groups came in this fair.

Some books related to them are available in various stall-pavilions including UPL, Heritage, Prothma, Bangla Academy, but almost 90% of these books are written by Bengalis.

Readers of minority communities claim that books written by Bengali authors about them are available, but books written by authors in their own language are not available. As a result, there is no objective writing about the small ethnic groups.

At the same time, the books that are available are not enough. Books and writers related to preserving the culture and lifestyle of small ethnic groups should be increased, they added.

Khurong Chakma, a fine arts student of Dhaka University, who came to the fair, said: “There is less work on the language and culture of minority ethnic groups at the government level. Creative writers need to be produced from among these ethnic groups. They should also increase the number of books published to preserve their own language.”

Syed Murong said: “Many writers of the plains are now writing about small ethnic groups, especially hill ethnic groups. As a result, we are very interested in these writings.”

“But many writers on the plains have an unfavourable opinion of us. It shows a negative perception about us,” he added.

He urged writers to write books with objective information. He also expressed hope that the number of writers in their own language will increase in the coming days.

Rafsan Chowdhury, a student of Anthropology Department of Dhaka University, said: “I came to the fair and looked for writers of minority groups and books written about them in several stalls. Most of them are written by Bengalis except a few. The most disappointing thing is that I could not find any new book written on them in this book fair.”