Mamata hails strong cultural ties with Bangladesh

Mamata Banerjee cheered the strong cultural ties between Bangladesh and West Bengal citing that the ties cannot be "measured with a tape".

"You (Bangladesh) have Nazrul (Islam) and we have Rabindranath Tagore as our national poets. But they cannot be divided by any partition," she said while inaugurating the 45th International Kolkata Book Fair at the Central Park in Kolkata's Salt Lake.

The West Bengal chief minister was delighted to have Bangladesh as the theme country of the book fair this year, especially when the country is celebrating its golden jubilee of independence, PTI reported.

"On both sides of the border, we observe the International Language day on 21 February. We also utter Jai Bangla along with Jai Hind and Vande Mataram," Mamata said adding that no one should create a division among people along religious lines.

She at the time paid her tribute to Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and her respect to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina with whom she shares deep ties.

Cultural Affairs Minister of Bangladesh KM Khalid, who was present at the event, also harped on the shared ties between Bangladesh and West Bengal and expressed gratitude to the book fair authorities for joining the celebration of the country's 50-year celebration.

Meanwhile, Mamata expressed happiness that the book fair is being organised after a gap of one year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

As the permanent fair ground at Milan Mela had been under renovation, the Kolkata Book Fair will continue to be held on the Central Park and we will rename the Central Park venue as Boimela Prangan (Book fair ground)," she said.

The International Kolkata Book Fair had been shifted from Milan Mela ground to the Central Park in 2018.

The chief minister also urged the book fair authorities to take a pledge for world peace during the event as a tribute to the victims of the war between Russia and Ukraine.