Dhaka: The organisers of Chobi Mela 2019 arranged Arundhati Roy’s talk at a different venue after they were forced to stop the arrangement as they claimed they were informed late on Tuesday night by Dhaka Metropolitan Police that the permission granted to hold Arundhati Roy’s talk has been withdrawn for ‘unavoidable circumstances.’ 

In a media release the organisers said the permission of sought through an application on 16 February 2019 to hold the talk on 5 March at Krishibid Institute Auditorium in the city.

‘A lot of preparation had gone into organising this event. We are extremely shocked at this decision, and know how upsetting it must be for all of you who were looking forward to the first-ever visit to Bangladesh of this celebrated writer. We apologise to all of you who had looked forward to this event, and are just as disappointed’, said the Chobi Mela secretariat in a press note released at 2:15 am on 5 March.

Renowned photojournalist Shahidul Alam posted this on Facebook: