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Spelling
In our country, when we write Bangla words in English language, we do follow the British style of writing. Why? Why do we write Comilla. Jessore. Sylhet, etc. instead of Cumill a, Joshore & Sylet.
In the year 1982, we successfully changed the spelling of Dacca to Dhaka. So, why can't we change other spellings?
Md. Shahed-ur-Rasul
West Deobh og Mad rasa Road Narayanganj
Death of a tiger
While visualising a Royal Bengal Tiger, the picture I get is deadly and ferocious. But the news published in The Daily Prothom Alo on 22nd June 2008 showed me something else: A tiger taking shelter on the roof of a village hut. Its eyes were baffled and the ferocity was replaced by abysmal fear for life. We came to know that the tiger killed three people in the village of Dakkhin Kadamtala in Satkhira. So, to "avenge' the deaths it was killed and hung on a tree. Reading this in various newspapers, I had the following questions: 1) Why did the tiger come to the village? 2) When the tiger was already captured, was it really necessary to kill it? And 3) What is the rule for similar situations? The answer to the first question is easy as we all know that generally a tiger does not come out of forests to take a 'morning walk’. It came to the village because it could not find any food in its habitat.
The answer to the second question seems to be negative because the tiger was not causing any further harm--it actually looked like a frightened cat on the rooftop. As answer to the third question. Mr. Rajesh Chakma (Assistant Conservator of Forests) said that the rule was to tranquillise the tiger and then send it back to its habitat. If so, then why was the tiger beaten to death? I understand the sentiment of the villagers and 1 do not blame them. These people were not supposed to understand the matter. But I was really shocked reading Mr. Rajesh's statement-We had the tranquilliser but our people there did not have the expertise of using it." If this is the case, what is the point of having them in the first place? The Royal Bengal Tiger is one of the few animals that we arc proud of and its
population is currently dwindling fast So, I expect our forest officials to ensure that these poor animals do not suffer from shortage of food. Keeping the deer population intact can be a good step in this regard.
I hope that in future our forest department will be able to send trained people to save the animals. Tahsin Mashroof Hossain Department of Economics North South University
Justice
When no conventional laws exist in a society, when people are corrupt in every way - at times there will be people who will come forward and do justice in a non-conventional ways. Think about our country when the BNP. the AL and the JP were in power and involved in corruption, nobody, not even the civil society, came forward to protest it. There were individual efforts, but no collective one.
When the justice dept, law enforcement agencies are politicised, it's tough to mete out justice in a conventional way. You have to provide the “real justice" in a non-conventional way in this kind of situation which people will fully appreciate.
Have I succeeded in conveying a message?
Mahmudul Hasan
Engr, Texas Instruments Dallas. USA
Why this U-turn?
I cannot but appreciate Mr. Nayem Jafar of New Jersey, USA, for the opinion he expressed about the U-turn the CTG has taken about political bigwigs in recent days and then I also thought against whom the corruption charges are left to be levelled ? For only the small fries of society? Well, it seems everything is fine in the political melodrama. People by and large liked the action the government had taken against corruption at the initial stage. And if they found it difficult to hold trial for such massive loot & plunder, they could seek the public mandate for such action and set an example for the future generation.
A.G.Chowdhury Dhanmondi, Dhaka
Learning English
I read with interest the letter written by Mr. Kamaluddin Ahmed under the heading "Teaching English , published in your issue
of 25 June 2008. My observation on the subject is as follows:
I personally believe that it is very difficult for a student when he is taught something and language is not something that can be taught. It has to be learnt just the way one learns one's mother tongue. By the time a child is three years old he is able to converse in his mother tongue and at that time he has a vocabulary of just 300 words. In the first year of his life the child has not spoken a word and that first year has been spent on listening only.
Now if one wants to leam a foreign language then the best way is to learn the language exactly the way one learnt his mother tongue. Nothing can be done at the tertiary stage, it has to be done in the primary stage. It is said that you cannot teach a new technique to an old horse.
If we cannot find competent language teachers then we can take the help of video learning. We could make cartoon films based on short popular stories using the most widely used three hundred words. In the movies the characters must speak slowly so that the children can grasp the words. This way the children will be able to start talking in English in a year's time.
Once the child learns to speak the language, then learning to read and write is a simple matter. 1 am sure if this system is followed, the children will never have any problem with English language. Salahuddin Ayu bi One-mail
Rickshaw issue
This three wheeled vehicle was seen in many countries in the past. But it has been replaced gradually by different engine-driven vehicles. Even Pakistan was able to eliminate rickshaws from Karachi and other main cities many years ago. Yes, the rickshaw has two points in its favour. It needs no fuel, and so it is environment friendly.
Secondly, a huge number of poor people depend on this profession. So it is difficult to withdraw all rickshaws from the roads of Dhaka. I agree.
The government, NGOs and other organisations must come forward to find out the alternatives.
Today, a capital city cannot allow rickshaws, carts, etc.
Harun-or-Rashid
Sobhanbag. Dhaka Rickshaws!
I would appeal to Mr. Sikander Ahmed of Gulshan whose letter was published in The Daily Star on April 16,2008, that we all maintain calm and put comprehensive, collective and decisive thought into this very obvious problem of rickshaws in our city streets.
First of all , I once again sense that Mr. Sikander's words paint an image of an 'angry man'. We can put out many facts and figures and try to justify the needs of rickshaws and perhaps, for many like me rickshaws are the primary mode of transport. But it still does not justify leaving rickshaws free to grow without control or planning.
In his letter Mr. Sikander assumed that I must own a car and therefore am promoting removal of rickshaws from Dhaka city streets. But the truth is that I do not own a car (Although rny father docs). My sisters, most of my close relatives, friends all rely heavily on rickshaws...yet, I am not in favour of leaving rickshaws alone. In this context, 1 would like to inform the public that a few days ago, 1 was coming back from my child's school (in my father's car), when I heard a loud, helpless cry of another little boy who was with her mother who fell out of the rickshaw they were riding on, as the rickshaw puller turned on to a side street without slowing down. I immediately stopped and as 1 went to the aid of the injured I found that the boy was crying and screaming out of fear, I found the mother badly hurt at her ankle. I quickly took them both into my car and drove them to a nearby hospital for emergency treatment. The woman needed 4 stitches and the terrified boy kept crying for the next whole hour as I waited for his father to arrive. It later turned out that the boy was in the same class of the same school as my daughter. Thank God they found a familiar face (May God help us all!). The point I am making is that rickshaws are extremely dangerous and we need to immediately put them on check.
We must understand that our city streets simply do not have the open space or capacity to bear the huge burden of rickshaws any longer. I request Mr. Sikander to read my last letter published in The Daily Star on this matter... and think deep. Let us not hate, rather think collectively and precisely instead of bashing people with cars.
Rickshaws must be eliminated from Dhaka city streets in quick phases. We must at the same time think about the rickshaw pullers who will become available for work
Mohammed Rahat Malibag Dhaka
Tarique’s health
The Internet edition of almost all the newspapers from Bangladesh is raising a lot of hoopla about the deteriorating heath condition of the two ex- prime ministers. Reluctantly, I am willing to grant them medical treatment of the highest quality in foreign land after all they led the nation with people's legitimate mandate. But there is no reason why Tarique and Arafat should be accorded the same treatment. They are no superior to any other citizen in a similar situation.
Standard of care for any medical condition is defined by the locally available expertise and resources. For example, a patient with acute heart attack may require immediate coronary angiogram and opening of the blockage by certain intervention. But if the expertise is not available in a small rural hospi-tal, the standard of care is to go along with non-invasive procedure. Appropriate care for any medical ailment thus is a function of available expertise and resource.
Tarique deserves the health care that is available locally. No matter, how his concerned mother may feel, the government should stick to the notion of standard care.
After all, Tarique Rahman's mother is largely responsible for the current standard of health care in Bangladesh!
Mohammad Zaman, MD Missouri, USA
Our tourist spot
In the latest Seven Wonders, Cox's Bazaar of Bangladesh got the second position, if we want to select Cox's Bazaar for the final, we have to vote for it. We can easily cast our vote by www.new7wonders.com/nature or wvywv^cjbangladcslvcom.
We should vote for Cox's Bazaar and promote the place as a tourist spot.
Md. Mahfuzur Rahman
IER, SMHall
Dhaka University
Adding insult to injury!!
We have seen media reports quoting some "doctors" that Tarique Rahman's spinal problem is an old one.
Where are we heading for? Repeated onslaught on democratic institutions, imposition of abnormal forms of governance, that we have seen since our birth, have eroded all ethical values from all strata of society.
No, a young man, with no known history of dangerous ailment like cancer or tuberculosis, taken into custody in good general physical condition, cannot sustain this kind of grievous damage without physical assault.
These futile attempts to cover up the crime will not work in the long run.
In a freer atmosphere at home or abroad, any orthopaedic doctor can find out in hours the cause and circumstance under which this happened.
We like it or not, it is a fact that he is the son of one of our most outstanding freedom fighters and his celebrated father won the hearts and minds of millions and millions of Bangladeshis.
Dr M. Hussain
On e-mail
Pied pipers of BNP
Abdul Hafiz in his article on the subject published on 23 June has given a fair and pragmatic critical analysis of the BNP chairperson and her tunnel vision on all matters, except self She is still hankering after the Chair of Bangladesh. The leader still leads the most transparently corrupt party in our political history, ably supported by the organised "lathials" of the Jamaat, with access to "muscle" as and where needed!
This "uncompromising" person sees nothing wrong in what her sonsdid.
After all they were only carrying out her basic inner, unexpressed desires and instincts. It was to rob, maim and if needed kill anyone who stood up in their path to fortune. Anything else, just did not matter! It was all on the basis of" for the party and by the party" shrouded in the "democracy of terror" with the help of Jamaal's "lathials" at all levels!
Such were the facts of life and may again be their "modus-oprandi", as the leader "saw no evil, heard no evil, and spoke no evil", despite incidental robbery, violence and killings.
I can only hope and pray that we are spared a further dose of the same in future which will depend on the effectiveness of the CTG's action. We can hope for the best, but should be prepared for the good (?) old BNP days. They will be out to recoup their lost treasure trove of goodies with compound interest, given the opportunity by our gullible, poor and illiterate majority of voters.
Reluctant voter
Dhaka
Lessons learned
from 1/11
If you are one of the two party chiefs:
You are immune at the end of any misdeed. No change required; just make sure your progenies are not in the country (otherwise, untoward things might happen)
If you are a political leader with ambition:
Stick to your party chief whether she is wrong or right. Your wrongdoing will be erased if you can hang tough on tough times.
If you are a politician with a view to change:
God help you. You will not be spared by any group in this enigmatic country of ours— be it during political rule or military-backed rule.
If you are a low level political leader/activist:
Build up your muscles including vocal ones. Learn to beat people in the street who do not follow the party chief. All you need is the ability to create menace and fear in the name of the party chiefs or their families. Remember the party is not important; it is the party chiefs whom you must care about!
S. Khan
NetuYork
Murkypolitics
1 .Tantrums of a former premier.
2 .The BNP'spicd piper.
One can only fully agree to what the two critics wrote in the aforementioned commentaries that was published very recently In your newspaper.
I admit having voted for the BNP in the last three general elections with the firm belief that it was the only party which could deliver. But the BNP under the leadership of Khaleda Zia has utterly failed to live up to the expectations of the ordinary people.
What next? There are ominous signs in the horizon! We can only pray to God to save and bless Bangladesh.
Akhter Ahmed
Gulshan. Dhaka Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to the man who was arrested and imprisoned for life.
He was widely accepted as the most revered black leader in South Africa and became a potent symbol of resistance as the anti-apartheid movement gathered strength. Hasib
Dha n mondi, Dhaka
Seedy greedy...
We arc appalled at the greed of our "seedy ever needy" politicians. They are clamouring for the national election so that they are vaulted into power as soon as possible. They are absolutely allergic and sometimes antagonistic to local body election. Incidentally, local body is the backbone of development in any developed and developing country. Look at the USA, the UK, other EU countries, the Philippines etc. Strong local bodies like 'upazila' in our country form the very foundation of these countries. Former President Ayub
Khan is remembered for the historic Muslim family law ordinance 1961 and President Ershad for introduction of 'Upazila system'. The BNP ruthlessly dismantled the best commendable work of Ershad, the development friendly 'upazila system' out of vengeance and the Awami league was afraid to hold local body elections. Interest and welfare of the people should be the top priority, not’barking’of politicians.
So we appeal to the present government to stay firm in their commitment to people and go for “upazila” election first and ignore the illogical demands of the "power hungry date expired sixty five plus" politicians who never retire and hand over the mantle to more able younger ones, unless the Almighty does the needful.
SN Mamoon
On e-mail
A hapless girl
Has anyone seen Lamia? About 7 years old? Pretty little round face
and short hair? Usually begging with her sister, Taslima, near Gulshan 2 circle? They made about 300 taka a day which kept their non-working parents in the manner to which they had become accustomed.
You see, she disappeared about 2 weeks ago. Please look out for her - and, ifyou meet someone like her, ask her if she has a big sister Taslima, and knows a bideshi woman called Angela, who won't give money but gives out bananas -and bought her a tube of Savlon when she had a nasty place on her hand. If she says yes - then you have found her. Please, God, may the wretch who took her, set her free' again, unharmed.
I wonder if the take-home message to all of your readers, sir, is not to give money to little girl beggars in the streets, particularly after dark. It isn't safe for them to be there. Maybe we should show them no kindness either..
Angela Robinson
Gulshan, dhaka