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TO THE EDITOR
Expansion of Nato
Nato (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) was formed on 4 April 1949 in the midst of cold war and it is a massive military alliance. Initially, it had twelve members but nowit has twenty-seven.
A few days back, the 24th annual conference of Nato was held in Bucharest, the capital of Rumania. Among its agenda was inclusion of Ukraine and Georgia in Nato.
US President George W Bush has been trying tirelessly to involve Ukraine and Georgia with Nato. Ukraine supports every mission of Nato and had sent troops to Afghanistan, Iraq and Kosovo.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Sarcozy. however, didn’t support Bush. This is indeed an interesting development.
Md. Shahin Alam
Dept. ofPolitical Science Dhaka University
Shocking indeed
It's deeply disheartening that police and activists of the AntiQuran Law Resistance Committee, on the very premises of a sacred place like Baitul Mukarram National Mosque, engaged in clashes and turned it into a battlefield.
Most people of Bangladesh are religious-minded and we believe that Islam is a complete code of life. So whenever it comes to formulating some policy like National Women's Development Policy (NWDP) that may be misinterpreted by opportunists as anti-Islamic; the policy'-makers must exercise extreme caution and be proactive deeming it a very delicate issue, with a view to dispelling false fears and grievances of pious people as well as pre-empting violent agitation by the activists of Islamic parties. But. unfortunately, the CTG has failed to show foresight.
History’ says that Islam is the first religion that had given due rights to women but its various doctrines have been misinterpreted by some evil people and misunderstood by commoners. There are Islamic scholars in Bangladesh who are very knowledgeable about the rights of women in Islam. Before thrashing out different delicate issues of NWDP, they should have
been consulted and their views along with necessary references to the Holy Quran and Hadith should have been given due consideration.
Ahmad Ferdous Bin Alam Department ofCSE, DU
Our problems
I do not disagree with the letter published on 6th April. 2008 entitled, 'Ostrich mentality'*. I also do not believe that our ’think tank’ has dried out of ideas that would soothe the immensity of the dry season power-cuts and water shortage. Foreigners often complain that Bangladeshis are not being sensitive enough to their problems. Water shortage and power cuts are tolerated and accepted with great patience.
The essence of democracy lies in reflecting the voices of the mass. With a poor local government and the emergence of our civil society from mainly the elite class the voice of the mass people has been reduced to faint sounds. How would we expect good governance from our political leaders whilst they themselves do not represent the masses, indulge in massive corruption and are born out of a critically flawed structure of governance? Now we are keeping our fingers crossed and hoping for a change in our system of governance and appreciating the few changes the ’interim government’ has made so far by putting the filthy people behind the bars, initiating the process of giving the judiciary system a separate entity, making the ACC (Anti Corruption Commission) active and strong, holding the local government election prior to the general election etc.
And of course we are hoping for a fair general election.
Zaiami Bodrudduza
Uttara Model Toivn, Dhaka
Higher education
To be frank, as a vigilant and regular student of a university. I watch too many irregularflies and anomalies at my university. It is clear to all that the institutional objective of this university is to gain profit by fleecing students, rather than imparting education. They (management) want more money ignoring the students' financial condition. They never listen to what the students may have to say.
1 think all this is true about some other universities as well!
ABBA student
SUB
Upsetting the democratic trend
The wise remarks of the former chief adviser Justice Habibur Rahman at the National Citizen's Dialogue as reported in most papers on 7th April are a very timely and relevant advice to the present CTG and its mentors. We could have on a short-term basis involved the men behind the scene in an anti corruption operation, and cleaning up of the police establishment with no strings attached. But influencing governance from behind the scene is not the proper method to adopt. Authority with out responsibility is the harbinger of instability and other serious issues that destabilise democracy in the long term; though appearing very rosy in the short term! This is unfortunately happening in Bangladesh It is a fundamental political and governance issue that the nation must resolve, if we want democracy to survive and flourish in the long-term.
A Bangladeshi Gulshan, Dhaka
Cruelty to animals
Our treatment of animals should be kind. Animals are often mistreated or killed unnecessarily. A few days ago I was stuck and unable to move at Uttara at around 10:am and I witnessed the cruel act of a man. I had dropped my daughter to school and was waiting for the traffic to clear up. 1 noticed two goats tied tightly to the roof grill of a bus. It was sunny, hot and crowded and the goats' owner ensured that the goats did not fall down. The two ropes were pressed round the necks of the two fragile animals pressing against the arteries. I reckoned it would have been better had the goats' waist or legs (say "wrists") were tightened.
Just then an abrupt jerk made a goat, which was standing precariously on the uneven or ragged roof, fall and remain hanging(as tied to ropes) from the edge of 'Skyline Transport' bus. Some passengers uttered words ofwarn-ing about the imminent death by strangulation. Finally, the owner came down from the bus to salvage his possessions in danger of death.
There are many gifts that are unique to man, but at the centre of them all lies the ability to draw conclusions from what we see on what we do not see. Please use thin ropes to safeguard animals. Be kind!
Tajul Islam
Gulshan-1, Dhaka
Trial of politicians
It is more than a year, the caretaker government arrested the politicians on charges of corruption and misuse of power. But till today the jailed leaders have not been tried.
And prices have gone up unexpectedly. Poor people are unable to buy foods and other essentials due to high prices. People have started to talk about the caretaker government. The government has failed to control prices of most essential commodities. If the prices of essential items are not brought down within the reach of the common people, the success of the caretaker government will soon be questioned. It is true that law and order situation in the country is quite good and appreciable. People wanted to see that the corrupt politicians got due punishment. These politicians with their 'chamchas' are trying their best to make the caretaker government
fail. If the caretaker government fails (Allah forbid) than these selfish politicians will again loot everything.
There is no time for the government to lose I would appeal to the caretaker government to adopt some special measures to bring down the prices of foods and other mostessential commodities.
Mohammed Abul I lashem Musca t.Suhanate of Oman
People's plight
Recently, the daily Jugantor published an article "Will the people survive?” The news didn't escape the eyes of voracious newspaper readers like me. Nowadays, such articles flood the front pages of the dailies with awkward but colourful and lively photos where we see a long queue of hungry people standing in front of any BDR outlet. Who doesn't know that a huge number of people are now passing their days amid great uncertainty? How long can they fight to survive? Md. Aslfur Rahman
Teacher. St. Joseph Higher Secondary School Mohammadpur. Dhaka
Gulshan traffic
At the crossing of Gulshan Road No. 50 and Kamal Ata TUrk Avenue, traffic coming from Kamal Ata Turk Avenue is allowed to turn right. Also traffic corning from Road 50 is allowed to turn right. For some unknown reason, traffic coming from Gulshan 2 is not allowed to enter Road 50. Instead, that traffic is required to make a u -turn at Banani . The crossing at Banani serves in-coming and outgoing traffic of Road No. 11 and also the traffic of Road No. 27 of Banani.
Therefore, this particular place is hazardous. I hope, the traffic authorities will look into the matter and allow the traffic coming from Gulshan 2 to enter Road 50.
Dhakabashi
Gulshan, Dhaka
Price hike
It is timely & praiseworthy that the govt will consider increasing the salary of govt officers & employees. Along with this, the govt should think about the needy people who are in serious trouble now.
Shammy Akter
Department of Applied Nutrition & Food Technology
Islamic University, Kushtia
Sheikh Hasina's
treatment
Former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is now imprisoned. We know that she is suffering from ear problem as well as other ailments. All Awami League leaders, including Sheikh Hasina herself, want her treatment abroad. According to them, proper treatment of her diseases is not possible in this country.
It is a matter of great regret that while they were ruling this country they claimed that world class medical facilities were available here.
Where does the truth lie?
Munadil Fahad
One-mail
Remove the dustbin
I would like to draw the attention of the authorities concerned to the dustbin lying on the east/Sukarabad side of the Mirpur Road near the BRAC Bank (Dhanmondi Branch) and Daffodil International University. Beside the dustbin there is a narrow pavement which is fenced by a wall on its eastern side. Over the pavement, there are hanging electrical wires. A flock of crows always remains sitting on the wires in the hope of collecting foods from the dustbin. Hundreds of people including school going boys & girls, office going people and others have to walk along this pavement every day, but often they face an odd situation when the crows ...
So, I would request the authorities to remove the dustbin to a more suitable place.
Harun-ur-Rashid
Sobhanbag, Dhaka
Help the farmers
We have to remember that if agriculture fails, we will be doomed. It is time we took some initiatives to help our farmers. The following needs to be done in the interest of the agriculture sector.
1. Ensure transfer of technology from Research Institutes to the farmers.
2. Ensure availability of diesel and fertilisers in the market at acceptable prices.
3. Make seeds available.
4. Arrange agri-loans for the farmers at low interests.
Mohammad Shahidul Islam
Agriculturist
Breeder Seed Production Centre BARI
Debiganj, Panchagarh
“Histological” examination of history It appears from one of the news items of today's (12 April 2008) DS: Prof. Anwar Hossain of the history department of Dhaka University noted, “It is not history, rather information on the liberation war was distorted." The professor was speaking at a book publication ceremony at Liberation War Museum in the capital. Eminent jurist Dr. Kamal Hossain also reportedly spoke on the occasion.
I believe: one, factors such as, information via inquiry (for example) provide among other things, a critical mass to history in relevant areas; and two, the quality and the quantity of that critical mass is directly or inversely (or both) proportional to the quality and the quantity of the resultant history -relative to time, space and other variables, though. At a histological level (used in medical sense), it
implies, a distortion of information could be considered inter alia as a distortion of history, either in part or in full - whether or not that history exists physically at a given time or in a given form, among otherthings.
It will not be out of place to mention here: contaminators of information act like a virus when it comes to attacking systems of history at various levels of its development and maintenance, per se. Further, the attack has so far continued through intra, inter and other generational levels - in varying degrees, relative again to time, space and other variables.
The last word: the above presentation should be considered and examined against the backdrop of the truth that not all information is history and not all history is information.
Dr. M.S. Haq
On e-mail
GM foods
Nowadays GM (Genetically Modified) crops are a much talked about subject. Of course it is more productive than local crops. But we should also not forget that quality is often more important than quantity. Still we don't know we arc consuming some GM crops. This may expose us to certain physical disorders.
Md. Obyedul Kalam Azad Pekule Hajee Mohammad Danesh Science & Technology University Dinajpur Evicted slum dwellers
Near the newly built posh BIAM Center at New Eskaton, on 5th of March, 08, 1 was wondering about the unusual gathering of a large number of Hatirpool slum dwellers. While still getting deeper to BIAM, I found a contingent of police, some of them were right inside the slum to ensure safe eviction and some others outside were probably waiting for a provocation. I soon then realised the very purpose of the helpless congregation. The sight of the poor driven out slum dwellers was very sad and pathetic. Some little children were seen playing around the gathered shabby belongings of theirs. The bigger kids were seen really upset and sharing thoughts with their elders "Where shall we go?" The moments of tension made it appear more pathetic and unveiled the cruel reality. Their half starved physical appearance and popped up eyes looked helpless. The eviction of this old slum was either to construct a road for easy movement to posh BIAM Center-Cum School where mostly wards of quick rich governments officials make the most out of it, or make a way for posh apartments for quick rich people. We condemn this inhuman act of bulldozing the slum.
The authorities may have served repeated warnings but where will the helpless poor go? We hope some international agency would come forward for a final solution. Moinuddin Dhaka
Rickshaws
I would have found Mr. Mohammed Rabat’s letter on the subject in DS of 10 Apr 08 and earlier, his and that of Mr Farzand Ahmed of Bangkok, hilarious, if they had not dealt with the very serious problem of Dhaka's traffic jams so flippantly. These two gentlemen seem to be living in an illusory Utopia, with their heads in the sand like ostriches. Mr. Rabat brushes aside the existence of rickshaws and those connected with them with such demeaning expressions as "cancer, nuisance, inhuman, epidemic" and calls for their 'elimination' shades of Auschwitz!
Are they aware that the 2 lakh + rickshaws sustain the livelihood of 3-4 lakh pullers and perhaps 15-20 lakh family members? And that they are responsible for the mobility of at least 25 lakh rickshaw users including the poor, old, infirm, sick, women, children, disabled, traders etc every day? How will they get around their daily work, rou-tine/emergency visits without them?
Mr Rahat is surely a car owner, so he does not even talk about cars or buses (few city routes with rickety buses usually jam-packed), CNGs (mostly lining up at gas stations and if found, not inclined to talk if you are not going to Uttara or Narayanganj and willing to pay through your nose), taxis (the less said the better). Together with Farzand of Bangkok, Rahat dangles the lollipop of MTS. subways, freeways, etc all of which are decades in the future, while calling for the 'elimination of rickshaws NOW. They do not give a single constructive suggestion as to how both motorized and nonmotorized vehicles can co-exist on Dhaka roadsAS THEY CAN? It is surprising that they did not refer to any of my 10 previous leners on the subject in the DS and refute the assertions made therein, if they were not practical.
Now for some hard facts that both the gentlemen have neatly evaded. Dhaka's roads constitute only 7.6% of its area as against the minimum requirement of 25%. These can somehow accommodate about 1.5-2 lakh vehicles as against the present 10.2 lakh (with 125-150 new cars being registered every day). Cars occupy 70-100sqft of space and most move about empty/half empty. They pollute,
waste foreign exchange and are gas-guzzling monsters with an insatiable thirst for fuel presently above $ 100 per barrel. In contrast, rickshaws occupy only about 24sqft of space and usually carry 1.75 passengers cheaply, comfortably and YES, speedily if they are not hindered by over zealous cops. Earnings remain in-country and support lakhs of people. There is no pollution!
Monsoons are imminent and when your car gets stuck in flooded, polluted water, Mr Rahat please do not use the cancerous rickshaw but slog your way home on foot The very real picture next to your letter is already a blunt reply if you are capable of appreciating facts that are logical and practical. There is no doubt that many of us belong to that fast growing breed of Bengalis who had totally disillusioned the illustrious Tagore in his last years as vividly described by Mohammed Badrul Ahsan in his candid and thought provoking article “Take it from Tagore" in the DS of 28 March08. Sikander Ahmed
Niketon, Gulshan 1, Dhaka
Rice scarcity
Last week. I visited some BDR shops and saw the situation of our country. The queues of people in front of BDR rice selling centres in capital Dhaka and other major townships across the country turned longer this week with increasing number of people joining them. While visiting some BDR outlets, it could be noticed that the majority of the people in the line for rice were women, some cradling their babies in their arms in the unbearable summer heat.
The situation is turning critical as prices of rice are not coming down.
Md. Mahamudur Rahman Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University
Dhaka