Punjabi Book Fair is now open in Surrey. Organized under the banner of Chetna Publishers and BC Cultural Foundation, the annual fair was inaugurated by a prominent progressive Punjabi scholar, Dr. Sadhu Singh.
Singh is a leftist scholar based in Surrey, who made Canada his home following threats from religious fundamentalists during 1990s. He is highly critical of fanaticism and lost a very close friend to extremist violence in Punjab. His work includes translation of a book on the Ghadar Party, a group of Indian rebels- who had launched an armed struggle against the British occupation of India in 1913. These rebels were based in Canada and US. On the occasion of the Ghadar Party centenary, Dr. Singh formally opened the book fair that will continue until July 31, 2013 and will be open from 10 am-7 pm seven days a week. His own book, Ghadar Party Da Itihas is also available at the fair.
The local authors, whose books are being sold at the fair include, Mohan Gill, Harbhajan Hans, Harsimran Randhawa, Nadeem Parmar, Surjit Brar, Inderjeet Sidhu, Harpreet Sekha, Jarnail Singh Sekha and Sadhu Binning. Most of these authors write poetry and fiction. The most notable non fiction book Nastak Bani is about atheism written by Sadhu Binning.