PM lauds Hay Festival

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday lauded the Hay Festival Dhaka 2014 that opened on the Bangla Academy premises. 

In a meeting with the top officials of the cultural affairs ministry, she expressed satisfaction with the holding of the festival in Dhaka.

Talking to The Daily Star, Prof Shamsuzzaman Khan, director general of Bangla Academy, said the PM inquired about the event.

“I told her that around 60 writers from 13 countries have joined the festival,” mentioned Khan.

He said though the festival offers an opportunity to Bengali writers, readers and litterateurs to meet people who have made a mark in the field of literature abroad, the full potential of the event is yet to be tapped.

Hay Festival, which originally started in 1987 in Wales, was brought to Dhaka in 2010 at the British Council. As the festival became big, it was moved to the Bangla Academy compound.

This year the themes of the festival are telling stories in different ways and pushing the boundaries of mind.

BSS adds: The premier put emphasis on more practice of culture to enrich the mind.

“It's not wise to give importance to only filling our stomach. We'll also have to give importance to meet the hunger of mind. So it's necessary to pursue cultural activities more to meet the hunger of mind,” she noted.

Hasina said the aim of her government is to highlight the country's identity and entity before the world. “That's why we have given importance to flourishing of culture which sustains the nation and helps it strike roots,” she pointed out.

She also stressed the need for conducting research side by side projecting the identity, culture and literature of Bangalee nationalism before the new generation through digital technology.