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To the Editor...
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Ekushey observance I shall never forget my first three 'Ekusheys' in Bangladesh. I was up in far Haluaghat and, on all three occasions, the early morning was cold and foggy when I heard the Garo Hostel boys singing the National Anthem, standing in two solemn lines, wrapped in mufflers and jackets, insisting on having their own, independent ceremony at crack of dawn, complete with banners and flowers.
Then all the pupils of St Andrew's Mission High School gathered in the playground - around 700 of us -and, silently and solemnly, moved off, in double file behind the banner that proclaimed the school's founding in 1923. (The Mission was founded in 1912 by a Garo and Bengali Brotherhood not a foreign missionary in sight!) Then the area was predominantly jungle and the Garo people. Now they were Garo and Bengali, and Muslim, Hindu and Christian -- all together celebrating
being Bangladeshis.
We walked through the streets of Haluaghat, through the bazaar and round about, in bare feet. It would have been heresy to have shoes but I dare not look down to see what I was walking in! occasionally, when we met another school, coming in the opposite direction, it was rather a squash to get by. All the schools of the area were parading and the residents and shop-keepers looked upon us with approval, carrying our flowers and making our winding way to the memorial, where hundreds of us gathered to place our flowers and hear the occasional speech before skipping off to have the rest of the day free.
Although only an Assistant
Teacher, I was invariably put up front, holding the middle of the banner and I hoped that, as the only resident foreigner for miles around, I was contributing to the occasion by conveying the 'International' bit of the International Mothers' Day. Since I have been in Dhaka, I have
found no way of celebrating Ekushey, alongside the local schoolchildren, in such a participative way. I have attended some 'posh' functions as a member of an audience to hear some lovely songs and poems but this is hardly 'participative'. This year, I have been reliably informed that it would be an embarrassment to those in charge of security for me to take my white face to the celebration at the University. How sad! I suggested to someone that the children of the schools of Lalmatia could march together round its streets and the idea was greeted with a shriek and the declaration that the parents would never allow it. Even more sad! I can only mutter that, in this, as in many other things, if Haluaghat is anything to go by, the country children of Bangladesh have all the luck.
Angela Robinson
Principal of The British School in Dhaka, Lalmatia
Ashura and
misconception
Before coming to Saudi Arabia and attending sermons in English on Fridays, I had the same perception on Ashura as it is reflected in editorials in today's newspapers and various write ups since yesterday (19.02.05).
one may refer to the hadith quoted in the Bukhari, ref. no. 971 and 970 to find out the background of Ashura.
It was narrated by Ibn Abbas (#971) that, after arriving in Medina Monawara, the Prophet (pbh) observed that Jews were fasting on this day. When asked about the reason it was said that Musa (Moses) (pbh) used to fast on this day as Bani Israel and Musa (pbh) were saved from Pharaoh on this day. Than the Prophet (pbh) said that Musa belonged more to us than the Jews. It was also mentioned (not in this Hadith) that 'Allah's messenger intended to fast if he lives till next year, two days, one day after or
before the 10th Muharram to distinguish the Muslim fast from the Jews.
So Ashura was established much before the Great Imams were slain in Karbala.
MM Haque
Jeddah, KSA
Avoid 'Banglish'
There are hundreds of words in Bangla language that came from other languages. English is dominating over those languages. Though words like chair, school etc have corresponding Bangla words, they are no longer used. Now those words are treasure of our own language. This flow of words from a language to another is very natural. In recent days this flow became a must, because of the on going technological revolution and easy transfer of information.
This flow of words towards Bangla from English has nothing alarming. What is a matter of anxiety is the use of genuine English words in Bangla
structured sentence. Some people think that injecting English words while speaking in Bangla presents them as smart. They probably don't know how weird those sentences sound. Teachers of various schools and colleges like to term this kind of mixture as "Banglish" (Bangla+English). Practising English is good but we should avoid this kind of mixture and practise our own language as it is.
Istiaque uddin Rifat Dept. of EEE, RUET
Can we get along?
As we have witnessed for the past 10-15 years, both the major parties have failed to come to any common ground to deal with the country's problems. I do not see much ideological difference between these two parties but they are becoming their worst enemies. The ruling party members think that they can ride out the storm with their eyes closed as long as extremists are not
targeting their people. Well, that may be true for the time being, but I would not be too sure about that in the long run. If terrorism is not dealt with adequate force, it will cause pain in the years to come. This was well articulated by former American president Clinton when he met then self-appointed president Musharraf during his brief Pakistan visit. He bluntly told Musharraf that terrorism would eventually destroy Pakistan from within if he didn't move against it. The man who was thought to be a hard-liner at that time has now become a moderate and taking Pakistan to a new era of civility, stability and prosperity. We do not know how long this will last for Pakistan but let us hope for the best!
The question is whether the BNP would allow itself to be a pawn of right-wingers and make us lose everything that we have achieved since 1971. Would it prefer to have constant daily confrontations with major opposition party supporters? or, would it choose a middle way,
promote rule of law and rule the country from a centrist position?
The opposition party has not done any better! I can understand the pain and fear of being bombed again and again but the party should be engaged in parliamentary activities, not in street protests. I do not see this as a weakness for opposition party. No need to call repeated hartals on behalf of poor citizens who need to feed their families with their day pays. The opposition needs to keep the issues burning but clear strategic goals must be laid out within the framework of democratic norms. And, all these can be done within the walls of parliament! Getting rid of current government by mass protest is not a good idea! Let us use the ballot box! Let us build a long-term democratic tradition!
Dev
Boston University