• SL Tamil Book Publishers and Sellers Asso. cites litany of woes
• Only 1-2 publishers among SL Book Publishers Asso. membership and none in the Director Board, Govt. public libraries not buying 

In the backdrop of the ongoing Colombo International Book Fair organised by the Sri Lanka Book Publishers Association (SLBPA), the Sri Lanka Tamil Book Publishers and Sellers Association (SLTBPSA) has called for equality for and full inclusion of the Tamil publishing field within the context of the same.

Issuing a statement in this regard, the SLTBPSA claimed that Tamil language creators, Tamil publishers, and Tamil readers have been subjected to ‘great discrimination (bias/prejudice)’ at the said Fair for many years. 

“The SLBPA has 160 publishers as members, but there are only one or two Tamil publishers. Not even one person belonging to the Tamil speaking communities is among the seven people in its Board of Directors, or the 11 Additional Directors, or the six-person Advisory Committee. The SLBPA's website and its publications also are only in English and Sinhala”. The SLTBPSA also cited the case of Tamil creators not participating due to the lack of sufficient book stalls. “Currently, not even 1% of the stalls in the Fair are Tamil stalls”.

Further, on the broader issues of Tamil publications, the SLTBPSA noted: “Fewer than 500 books are being published in Tamil. The market for Tamil books in Sri Lanka is very small. Many books published here are printed in only 300 copies. There are also books printed in fewer copies than that. Even Government public libraries don’t buy indigenous (local) Tamil books. Many such Tamil writers have not earned (a livelihood) through books. Instead, they publish books with their own money. In such a situation, due to the inability to spend extra on translation in the cost of book production, sufficient translation literature is not being published in Tamil. Hence, Tamil publishers are weakened, struggling and suffering. 

“There are no publishers and distributors in the Tamil environment who have achieved growth equal to that of Sinhala publishers. Therefore, Tamil publishers should be included as SLBPA members. The discrimination existing in everything should be removed, from obtaining suitable stalls at the Book Fair, allocating suitable spaces, obtaining stages for releases (launches), talks, etc., to Tamil announcements, advertisements, and facilities. Guidance and advertisement placards should also be in Tamil. Opportunities should be provided for small stall owners and a low fee collection system should be introduced for them. Sufficient Tamil staff who can assist should also be employed.”