DIBRUGARH, Dec 19 - In response to the Statewide call for shutdown of all bookstalls for four days, the Dibrugarh town committee of All Asom Publishers and Book Sellers� Association today resolved to keep all its bookstalls and outlets closed in protest against the Government�s apathy towards the publishers and book sellers in the State.
The All Asom Publishers and Book Sellers� Association has called for a Statewide bandh of all bookstalls on December 20, 21, 22 and 23 next.
There is apprehension among the publishers and book sellers that their livelihoods would be adversely hit if the Government provides free textbooks to the students of the State from outside publishers without taking the local publishers and sellers into consideration.
The local committee members of the association during a press conference here said that they welcome the proposed move of the Government to distribute free textbooks, but said that the move must not affect the collective interests of the publishers and booksellers of the State.
�The Government can provide scholarships to the students to purchase books, or the students can purchase books from us and then the Government could reimburse the expenses so incurred. If textbooks are imported from outside publishers for free distribution among the students, it is most likely that chapters or content in the textbooks of regional importance will be ommitted.
�Our children will have no other alternative but to read only about Deendayal Upadhyaya, Syama Prasad Mukherjee and others. The Government�s proposed move will not only harm Assamese language and literature, but will also discourage local writers and publishers,� said Srikanta Bharali, president of All Asom Publishers and Book Sellers� Association, Dibrugarh town committee.
