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TO THE EDITOR
Attack on AL meeting
The January 27 news of the deadly attack on Awami League meeting at Habiganj and death of Shah Kibria and others were most unfortunate. The trend which has set in over the last few years in Bangladesh was an indication of this and other similar types of criminal activities. Bangladesh has a great history of social harmony. But a lot of things have been going wrong in this country as fanatic elements are pushing their own agenda ahead.
However, I believe Bangladesh will overcome this crisis.
Zinda Mahmood Bajwa New York, US
Nipah alert!
Now it is confirmed that Nipah a viral disease causing encephalitis has once again attacked Bangladesh. Although the
disease is still under control, there is, however, every possibility of outbreak of Nipah in epidemic form!
The symptoms of the disease include fever accompanied by headache, respiratory problem, sleeping-sickness or sleepy-sickness. This dreaded disease has already claimed 17 lives in Bangladesh this year. It is understood that the bat performs as a potential vector for spreading this disease. Nipah is also spread by the infected person.
The government has taken some effective measures to counter the Nipah virus. Meanwhile, I do strongly feel that information pertaining to symptoms, controls and precautions against the Nipah viral disease should be transmitted to the common people through the print and electronic media immediately.
Prof. Zahidul Haque
Dept. of Agrtil. Extension & Information System Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural
University, Dhaka-1207.
Murky politics
There was an attack on an AL rally last year, and then the terrorists have eliminated SAMS Kibria, one of the most respected and honest politicians of the country. His death was a profound shock to us. It was not only an attack on the opposition, but also our democracy. The attackers are an enemy of the people. After such incidents, we did not observe any progress in investigation and the criminals have not been brought to book. Previously, we noticed political parties trying to gain mileage from these events. We condemn such activities which are a clear violation of the democratic spirit. The politicians must place morality and integrity above petty interests. Otherwise, the country would never have a stable political system based on truth and justice.
Md Zonaed Emran
Dept. of Political Science University of Dhaka Land grabbing If wealth and property are kept unguarded, the thieves will steal those. Blame, then, is not to be put on the thieves, but on the negligence, indifference or failure to keep those under constant watch. The water bodies are public property . The government is the custodian and trustee of those properties . The administration should look after and utilise public properties appropriately. Trespassers are liable to be immediately prosecuted under the law of the land. Land grabbers do not construct a building or a shed over night. They do it as we know without any resistance.
They use it for profit making for months or years. During this long period, the custodians, trustees and the watchdogs are found to be in a state of hibernation. They wake up in certain cases (not in all cases)
and demolish the constructions. Again after some days the greedy land grabbers occupy the land and start construction. This hide and seek game we are noticing for a pretty long time.
We suggest the following to set things right.
i) Demolish all illegal structures.
ii) File cases against the unauthorised occupants immediately after demolition.
iii) Claim profit money from the occupants .
iv) Claim costs of demolition.
If cases are filed and the greedy persons are arrested and brought before a fair trial, they will be disciplined to a great extent. Only demolition is not the "answer" to this "cancer." They occupy public land, construct buildings on it and they get back their capital with huge profit during the period from construction to demolition. Meanwhile, some innocent persons who offer "salami" and rent incur losses. The environ-
ment also incurs loss. Public interest is hurt in a palpable manner. Therefore not only demolition but some other measures and remedies require to be considered.
Tapader Md Khalilur Rahman Rokeya Sarani
Mirpur, Dhaka-1215
Kibria's death and hartal
We are really watching something very unfortunate in the political arena. While the killing of SAMS Kibria was a monstrous crime, it is really shocking that both the government and the opposition have taken a rather one-sided view of the crime. The government reaction to the killing, which has greatly undermined its image, is disappointing, to say the least. The ruling party is even blaming the Awami League for the grenade attack! Do the politicians think that people like us, on the sidelines , don't really
understand anything or have no option other than accepting the government version of the ghastly attack? Perhaps they do , otherwise they would have come with something more credible than blaming the AL for the death of one of its front-ranking leaders.
The government leaders have rightly pointed out that hartal is not the answer, but they seem to be overlooking that the opposition has been pushed to a corner from where it can think only of desperate measures. It seems the opposition's response to the killing is more important to the government, than bringing the culprits to justice! One might conclude that the government does not want the opposition to refrain from calling hartals; rather it is more interested in seeing the opposition losing popularity through embarking on that suicidal path!
Now let's turn our attention to the opposition. The opposition parties have every right to agitate
after the AL lost three of its top leaders in recent times. But opposition strategists are perhaps not asking themselves how far the hartals would carry them. Are BNP leaders affected by the hartals? Or is it the poor people who have to bear the brunt of it? And what about the economy? Well, we have nothing to say if it is less important than opposition interests!
It seems the two sides are testing each other's patriotismsomething that does not really exist anywhere across the political spectrum!
Mansoor Saif
Dhaka
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