Speakers :
Amir Muhammad, Malaysia (Buku Fixi)
Lorna Zita, Mozambique
Jahnavi Sen, India
Moderated by Müge Gursoy Sokmen, Turkey (Metis Publishers)
Amir Muhammad : “3 209 books are currently banned. It sounds like a lot but it means that there are millions that are not banned ! [...] We are acknowledging that censorship exists but we also are acknowledging that we have the right to talk about it.”
Lorna Zita : “We need to create a world where everyone can speak without fear. When we speak about repression, it is not only about stopping people to speak [...] when people be silenced, we lose important voice in the society.”
Jahnavi Sen : “An entire ecosystem knowing that everyone else also exists and continues to do that, it creates not just solidarity but also a sense of responsibility towards the other that you know. We have to hold this up for each other.”
Müge Gursoy Sokmen : “I’m coming from this country where we had a coup-d’état, a military takeover in Turkey in 1980 and that is why my publishing house was founded. We were students at that time but we wanted to continue talking about things that were important for us.”
This panel discussion took place during the 2026 edition of the Babelica Book Fair.
