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TO THE EDITOR
Saddam Hossain
I was amused to view the photograph of Saddam Hossain in his underpants printed in the "Sun", reprinted widely in our newspapers for obviously other reasons. He looked quite helpless in that attire. His is a well deserved ending of a long tale of tyranny, despotism, misdeed and missed opportunities. It reminded me of all the crimes and inhuman acts perpetrated by Saddam Hossain. I worked as a doctor in Iran for many years and witnessed the plight of the Iraqis, Kuwaitis, Iranians first hand. Saddam had no plausible reason to attack Iran when Iran was most vulnerable--running short of spare parts of aircraft, had to buy weapons from the black market etc. According to the Time Magazine ammunitions used in the first month of the war was equivalent to the whole of the NATO reserve ammunitions! I along with my wife and child were almost hit by Iraqi missiles thrice in Khorramabad, Lorestan province. Iranians fought back in the ground. We had an Iraqi doctor colleague who deserted the army and fled the country to Iran when Saddam started the ethnic cleansing of Iraqis of Iranians descent. They settled in Iraq quite a few generations back. Saddam killed his own sister's husband and his son in laws, converting his daughters into widows with his own hands. Saddam ordered chemical bombing of the predominantly Sunni 'Kurdis' and killed them like flies.
I vividly remember the bombing and missiles lobbed at Tehran and other cities. Tehran was deserted, and well settled city dwellers were forced to live in tents in the severe winter. Children and old people suffered and many died. The whole war was a pointless, mindless, thoughtless misadventure. I witnessed miles of Kuwaiti cars thronging the national highways in Iran after another treacherous and tactless attack by Saddam's army. Thousands of Bangladeshis lost their jobs, life-time savings and properties, and suffered due to Saddam's war. Saddam with all the megalomania, misadventures, tyranny, brutality, inhumanity and thoughtlessness languishes in a sorry state in an unknown prison in his own country. Destiny is serving him rightly.
SN Mamoon
Dhaka
Sunday as holiday
I echo the same sentiment as expressed by Mr. S. N. Mamoon in The Daily Star on 26/5/05 on the subject. Sunday as weekly holiday was a reality in independent Bangladesh until the Ershad regime, which made Friday the weekly holiday and gave it a religious colour. President Ershad also made Islam the state religion. The Nawaz Sharif government reverted to Sunday holiday unilaterally for economic reasons, even though the country was the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. It was pointed out that Friday was being used for festivities rather than for prayers prior to introduction of Sunday holiday. Locations and timings of different countries of the world remain the same and will remain so geographically as always (One of our writers indicated variation of timing on the question of Friday holiday).
Finally, I echo the same sentiment of one of our esteemed letter writers that Friday holiday will not make us religious, faith will!
Thomas Gomes Bhura Monipuripara
Tejgaon, Dhaka 1215
Load shedding
Cox's Bazar is the holiday spot of Bangladesh, however, due to frequent load shedding, life has become miserable in this beautiful tourist resort. On an average of 4 to 6 hours a day, we have no electricity in the town. This means approximately 35 hours without electricity a week. Consequently, business, offices, fish and ice factories, hotels, schools, computers, copy machines and electronics etc. stay inactive for at least 4 to 5 days a week (if we presume that one normal working day consists of 8 hours). In other words, this problem results in a loss of 16 full working days a month, or almost 3 full working weeks (if we count Friday as the weekly holiday)! Moreover, if the electricity supply is restored, the voltage output is so poor that it becomes impossible to run a computer most of the time. It has to be mentioned that the influential people of the town stay out of the heat, due to a special "V.I.P.-line" running through their neighbourhood (they have 24 hours electricity). Presuming that the dramatic electricity situation in most parts of the country is the same, we would like to ask the honourable law-makers and politicians, which country can afford such an enormous loss of precious working time.
Furthermore, your newspaper published an article about the problems of the "lone hydroelectric power plant of Kaptai". Out of 5 units, only two units are providing electricity. The remaining 3 are out of order due to poor
maintenance and negligence.
But this power plant was set up in the early 1960s, under Pakistani rule, 11 years before our liberation. We, independent Bangladeshi people, are still dependent on old and poorly maintained installations.
Md. Shah Jahan
Tekpara
Cox's Bazar
Power plants
I would love to see more reports on the power plants in the country.
I especially appreciate your reporting on the ongoing bids scandal in power sector. Please keep up
communicative skills. Obviously, it's the main point for which many Bangladeshi students struggle and suffer a lot in higher studies or while living abroad. For this reason, the government implemented such a syllabus for both SSC and HSC level which emphasises acquiring communicative competence. But it's a great pity that, we still can not actualise the government's plan properly. There is lack of practice in schools and colleges and when a student returns home, he becomes totally dependant on Bengali. Those, who were born in English speaking countries do not need to
the good work and give more space for covering the developments in the power sector.
Kazi Hasan
Dhaka
Learning English
Mr. Mujtaba Ahsan's letter on 26th May really provided some food for thought regarding English learning. As he lives in US, it's easier for him to find out and analyse the problem rather intellectually. I agree with him on his suggestion for enhancing the
start learning grammar from childhood as English is their mother tongue. If we also try to acquire the knowledge of language like them, it may help us a lot. But there is a different opinion that we were not born in any English speaking country so we have to learn the grammar rules. Well, it's all right but we have to develop the habit of speaking in English. There is another matter of dispute, whether the correct pronunciation is needed or not. It's a human nature that he tries to do
everything perfectly. So it is only proper that we learn the correct pronunciation.
Different people may have different thoughts and opinions. But ifwe watch the overall situation we can never deny the importance of learning English.
Shoaib M. Siddiqui
Dhaka City College
Launch disasters
Launch disasters have cost a huge number of lives. So someone should shoulder the responsibility of all these mishaps. I think the shipping minister should resign and set an example for others to follow in future.
R. Hossain
Dhaka
Are we civilised?
After reading the reports on the unrest in Dhaka University campus the first thing that strikes the mind is that Bangladesh is an uncivilised country. A state university where teachers participate in the riots? Police brutality against students who have every right to protest the lack of respect for human life on the streets? Taking the opportunity to beat up women because they are women shows that in our society there is still a section of people who come from uncultured families where beating women is considered fine, and they do so in public life as well.
The student protests are valid since there have been so many deaths in that particular area. If the people in charge had done something about it, this accident might not have occurred. If you are drawing a salary for your post, you should work for it.
Moin
Dhaka
Crossfire
The day before the murder of Suman in crossfire, I had a talk with my landlord about crossfire. He said that 90% of the educated people support crossfire and he also welcomed it. In response, I disagreed with him and said I was against all extra judicial killings. No one has any right to kill someone without any trial even if he is a notorious criminal. Every citizen has
a right to fair trial. I also said that some innocent people had already died in crossfire. But he didn't agree with me. Then I wanted him to remember the incident that happened during the time of Operation Clean Heart. One midnight a group of people came to our locality to arrest a criminal, but they failed and entered the surrounding houses to search for the criminal. In this process they came to our house and knocked the gate. Our landlord was beaten because he took some time to open the door.
Extra judicial killing is a threat to everybody.
Solaiman Palash
East Jurain, Dhaka 1204
Returning home!
Never stayed outside Bangladesh for more than two weeks until the year 2000 when I left for UAE on a professional assignment. By that time, my grey hair almost reached its peak. I was looked after pretty well by the company which also provided a car with a driver. My house had the privilege of being cleaned by daily visit of a foreign maid (note, not Bangladeshi). The pay was good too, so was the position. I don't want to make this letter weary and dull by mentioning the benefits but the reason why I am saying this is because, in spite of all these privileges, I could never feel the warmth (not literally speaking) in Dubai.
I've tried to identify and understand the situation of those who live abroad, including my younger sister. I tried to be sympathetic towards their feelings, motives and needs but was unable to penetrate to the depth of the meanings of such things. For me, its very hard to fathom how much it is needed to actually leave the root.
It's probably my lack of exposure to living abroad during my student life when the mindset is better equipped to deal with changes and adversities. Or maybe my priorities are different from others'.
I am proud , like all Bengalees, of my country.
Aminul Reza
Jikatola,
Dhaka, Bangladesh
Red alert!
All praises be to Allah who has given us such a beautiful country. Patriotism is something that every person has for his nation. A few days ago I asked one O' Level student, are you a patriot? Do you know what he said, hell no. This is a very serious matter and I got very upset at such a blatant negative answer. I remember when I was in the US, whenever someone asked me where are you from, I would say America. They would ask again where my parents are from then I would proudly say BD. What I learned from this was no matter how much I blended into their society, I could never be a true American. We have to understand that our blood is Bengali, and even if we go to the extent of marrying a blonde, or completely become a wannabe, it won't really make a difference. In any case if we do this then we are calling for a huge problem, and trust me I am talking from experience. No offence meant to anyone, it's just some advice to my Bangladeshi friends. Now we have to see where did we go wrong that our new generations are growing up to be non-patriots, and what is the solution to this problem. After a bit of thinking about this problem, this thing came to my mind that these English medium schools have a separate syllabus compared to the Bengali medium schools. These Bengali school students have a certain amount of patriotism because of what they study. The politicians should put an eye on the current education policy of BD. It would be really sad to see our own people not wanting to be called a Bengalee. That's why I call it red alert.
Ubaidullah Awal
One e-mail
Rab crossfire
Yesterday another person was killed in the so-called Rab crossfire. There are different explanations of the killing of Abul Kalam Azad Sumon. Some say that Rab was looking for another miscreant with the same name but mistakenly killed Sumon. Another explanation suggests that local ruling party leader killed Sumon through Rab. The point is that Rab is not doing what it is supposed to do. It seems that anybody can be killed at any time in the hands of Rab.
I know government will not do anything. Already government leaders suggest that this is Bangladeshi type solution of the crime problem. Well I believe that people are more important than the country.
Jewel Ahmed
Basabo, Dhaka
Teletalk
We know that Tele-talk lottery result is just out. But it is a matter of great regret that the winners are facing a lot of trouble to collect their sim. My father is one of the lottery winners. On 4th June 2005 he went to collect his sim from City Bank, Shaymoli branch. But the concerned person
refused to give him the Tele-talk sim because, according to him, the printed documents were not real and the identity form of my father was not valid.
My father is a government employee since 1969. During his 36 year service he hasn't faced this kind of embarrassment. We request the authorities concerned to simplify the process of collecting Tele-talk lottery prizes.
Mamunur Rashid Tomal
Pallabi, Dhaka
Warn' innuendo
Shane 's latest innuendo against the youngest and the most inexperienced member of the international cricket family, Bangladesh, did not surprise me, given the fact that he is accustomed to courting media attention by using his uncontrolled tongue against Asian test playing nations. In the past his tirade against players like Arjuna Ranatunga and Muthia Muralitharan of Sri Lanka bemused and baffled the whole cricketing world. No wonder his Aussie pride never fails to abandon him (given the slightest opportunity). Perhaps he is not aware that 'pride comes before fall'. One wonders how he expected a raw Bangladesh side to beat a side like England on their home ground despite the fact Bangladesh was playing its first ever test match on English soil after in harsh and ruthless climate. All Bangladeshi players were novice and young. Had Bangladesh been
playing test cricket for a hundred years (like Australia) it would not have been difficult for Shane to find a powerful and dominating Bangladesh in international cricket. The ICC bestowed the 'test status' after having properly assessed the strength of Bangladesh cricket. Shane's squibs regarding stripping Bangladesh of test status was ridiculous and absurd. ICC itself mentioned that they don't have any such plans. When countries like New Zealand took 26 years to record their first ever test victory why can't Bangladesh have a few more years to prove their might in international cricket? In his criticism against Asians Shane has become oblivious of the fact that he owes his own expertise in twisting his wrist to the teachers from Asia not Australia. When asked about test status of Bangladesh a player like Vaughan said, "It's up to ICC to make that decision not me. Players don't set out the schedules, we just turn up and play," I wish Shane with his prejudiced mind learn a lesson or two from Vaughan.
Mohd. Salekun Noor
Al Fujairah, UAE
Lack of harmony
We live in a civilised society, so we have various kinds of civil amenities like ordered and disciplined traffic system, police, hospitals, court, and above all good governance. But, we unfortunately witnessed unacceptable disharmony among them. For example, the road accident, which
took place at DU campus, caused student outrage. We observed that a disorderly traffic system took the toll of a student's life. The police beat up the agitated students, while the university administration didn't care for the public mood. Add to this, a student group tortured the general students who demanded that the administration take corrective measures.
Sarwar Kamal
Dept .of philosophy CU
Homosexuality
I never thought of homosexual right in our country's context like I do now after reading Nagorik's letter. I can pretty well relate to what he tried to say. I have seen my best friend going through similar sufferings. Its very easy for us to express our feelings and thoughts to our dear ones, being heterosexual, but homosexuals are compelled to keep their feelings suppressed. Being homosexual hasn't changed my friend, as I've known him for years. It never occurred to me that he is abnormal or out of the mainstream. What I've realized is that they should be treated normally for what they are and should not be discriminated against.
I wonder why homosexuals can't get their rights when transsexuals can raise their voice in our country. Shapla Khanom BRAC University