The unrest across the border has taken a toll on the export of books to Bangladesh with importers pressing a pause button and some of the publishers in Calcutta reporting a slide in demand for their titles among book lovers there.

Several publishers in the College Street area said the export of books from Bengal had witnessed a slump since August when protests led to the toppling of the Sheikh Hasina government in Dhaka.

Consignments of books have completely stopped moving from Bengal to Bangladesh over the past few weeks amid reports of alleged atrocities on minorities following the arrest of the Hindu monk Chinmoy Krishna Das.

“Book exports to Bangladesh have come to a halt. Importers have not been sending letters of credit to us for some time now. Without those, we can’t start preparing consignments. It’s a setback,” said Sudhangshu Dey of Dey’s Publishing, Calcutta’s biggest exporter of books to Bangladesh.

Apart from its publications, Dey’s would collect books from smaller publishers and pack them in cartons for importers in Bangladesh.

“We have been exporting books worth up to ₹8 lakh a month to Bangladesh. And it’s not just books from Dey’s alone. We would get books from smaller publishers and send them over. But all of that has stopped completely,” Dey said.

An official of Ananda Publishers said: “Bangladeshi importers are not placing orders for some time. It was a challenge sending the last consignment because of the turbulence. Over the past few weeks, there have been no enquiries.”

Sources in the publishing industry in Calcutta said annual book exports to Bangladesh were worth around ₹35 crore. “Small-time publishers like us would chip in with smaller consignments,” said Tridib Chattopadhyay of Patra Bharati.

“There has always been a demand for our books in Bangladesh. Book lovers there wanted original copies of works by great novelists from Bengal at double the price of pirated ones. But that has stopped now. Booksellers who would import our stuff have gone silent.”

Book lovers in Bangladesh have always expressed their appreciation for publications from Bengal with readers looking for original hard copies instead of pirated ones.

Bangladesh has featured in all editions of the International Kolkata Book Fair since 1996. Then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had attended the fair in 1999, when Bangladesh was the theme country.

The 48th book fair, to be held from January 28 to February 9, is unlikely to have a Bangladesh pavilion, the organisers said.

“There is still no clarity on the participation of the neighbouring country amid rumours of a call to ban all books from India there,” said an organiser of the fair.

Calcutta has also been hosting a “Bangladesh Book Fair” for over a decade where publishers from across the border would showcase their works.

“Small publishers look forward to exchanges during such fairs, when orders are finalised. We have been sending our books to Bangladesh for some time. Now it has stopped,” said Adhir Biswas of Gangchil Publications.