The Dhaka Lit Fest is taking Bangla Literature to the world, said State Minister for Cultural Affairs KM Khalid.

He made the remarks during the inauguration of the ninth edition of the Dhaka Lit Fest which opened to great fanfare at the Bangla Academy on Thursday (Nov 7).

“The Hay Festival introduced world literature to Bangladesh, and the Dhaka Lit Fest is taking Bangla Literature to the world. The Ministry of Cultural Affairs has decided to help the Dhaka Lit Fest become bigger and better in the future,” he said.

“However, many of our achievements are being overshadowed by the Rohingya crisis. We urge the global community to help resolve this issue as swiftly as possible,” he added.

In addition to the state minister who was the chief guest, special guest Bangladesh-born British author Monica Ali of ‘Brick Lane’ and Bangla Academy Director General Habibullah Sirazi inaugurated the festival with the directors Sadaf Saaz, Ahsan Akbar, and Bangla Tribune Publisher Kazi Anis Ahmed.

The opening ceremony ushered in acclaimed dance troupe Shadhona, whose performance to the poetry of Rabindranath Tagore enthralled the audience.

“We hope the Dhaka Lit Fest is a place where people here are of varying perspectives to respect tolerance, understanding, humility, and empathy,” said Sadaf Saaz.

“We hope it is place for reaffirmation, support core values of pluralism, secularism, democracy, freedom to express, and diversity. We want to draw upon the strength of our identities but not be constricted or judged or stereotyped by them. We want to draw from our heritage yet not let it stagnate us. We want our children to grow up too, in a world of books and wonder, where they can nurture their imagination and value knowledge,” she added.

She said that the Dhaka Lit Fest will also honour small languages, noting that the year 2019 is the year of small languages.

Sadaf further stressed that this year’s Lit Fest was dedicated to the upcoming birth centenary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Meanwhile, Ahsan Akbar said that Dhaka Lit Fest is where fiction meets science, science meets poetry, poetry meets art.

“At a time when populism and politics is on the rise across the globe, the importance of free discussions such as this cannot be over concise. Our festival is not about finding one answer but start appreciating our differences and celebrate our freedom,” he said.

Kazi Anis Ahmed said, that DLF is organised to celebrate thinking.

“We believe that by coming together here, our exchanges can contribute to free thinking. We believe the DLF can help Bangladesh and its people to grow as examples of free thinking,” he said.

“We have always been able to freely discuss issues without any restrictions. Nobody has ever come to us and prevented us from discussing anything," he added.

“We believe in passion, we believe in cultural diversities within our own cultural diversities. DLF 2019 will help strengthen free thinking in Bangladesh.”

 Author Monica Ali, who made her first visit to Bangladesh after leaving in 1971 as a three-year-old toddler, said she was grateful and honoured to be back.

Bangla Academy Director General said, “Dhaka Lit Fest helps build connections among people, connections among generations.”

The three day festival will run from Thursday to Saturday, 10am to 7:30pm.  

A full schedule of the festival is available at the DLF website. Visitors can register online or at the booth on site next to the entrance.