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To the Editor

Letters will only be considered If they carry the writer s full name, address and telephone number (If any). The Identity of the writers will be protected. Letters must be limited to 300 words. All letters will be subject to editlnB.
Global warming
Global warming is one of the most talked about topics in the world today. The activities that are responsible for global warming include burning of fossil fuel which contains different gases that are acting in Greenhouse effects, demolition of forest areas that have an active role in the regulation of global temperature. It will be very dangerous for all living beings.
Verily, global warming is a serious threat not only to Bangladesh, but also to the whole world and we must combat it collectively.
AKM Emdadul Haque
Hash nary, Ashujia
Kendua, Netrakona
Newseven wonders
We have two places of our country in the list of new seven wonders. Unfortunately, "The Sundarbans" has not been officially supported, which may result in its elimination from the preliminary round.
Being one of the widely read dailies of this country, I would request DS to highlight this area and encourage our tourism organisations to adopt measures to support "The Sundarbans"' officially.
Zia Uddin Ahmed
Shaymoli
Dhaka
Mayor’s accountability
I have watched the recently held city corporation elections in four cities with great enthusiasm. I noticed what each and every candidate said about their objectives. BBC and BTV also organised a live debate show allowing all the candidates to mingle with the audience of every profession to answer their questions.
1 was much surprised to see when the candidates were asked whether they would resign if they fail to perform the duties as mayor, all the candidates willingly and unhesitatingly said that they would surely resign.
We know from the past that our politicians never resign willingly no matter how much they have failed. I expected a more solid answer from the candidates, especially the candidates who have been elected as mayor.
If there is no accountability for the mayor then surely the mayor will find excuses in order to stay away from resigning.
Accountability has to be there for the mayor so that the mayor will think twice about what he promises to people. 'Ilie best way to achieve accountability is to have a separate constitution for all the city corporations. And within the constitution there will be clauses about the accountability of the mayor.
Minhaj Ahmed
Uttara, Dhaka
Cox’s Bazar
Once again, I visited Cox's Bazar accompanied by a few friends. I explore a lot of things during my every new journey to Cox’s Bazar. It gives me a lot of pleasure and amusement.
Having such a kind of a place in the country is a matter of pride. As a Bangladeshi, I feel so.
If we observe the countries like Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, the Maldives, Thailand and even India, we will see that they lay a lot of emphasis on tourism. We should learn from them.
Aim an Bin Shaofiqul Hamid (Jasim)
Dept, of English
International Islamic University Chittagong (IIUC)
Musharrafs resignation
Pakistanis have got such a short memory! They have forgotten all the past records of Asif Zardari and Nawaz Sharif. It took Mahatir Muhammad over 23 years to set Malaysia straight. And he did that despite being highly unpopular. We must understand that we as a nation are too naive to understand the complexities of the affairs of the state.
To err is human and Musharraf was no exception but I would still maintain that he was far better than the criminals who rule us now. May God save Pakistan!
S.M.Nabeel Imtiaz Islamabad, Pakistan
DU students’ woes
1 would like to request you to report on the sanitation problem of the halls of Dhaka University. The bathrooms are very small in size. Used water can't pass through the narrow outlets. Another problem of Dhaka University is communication. Only a few buses transport the students from different places. The number of students is increasing day by day but the number of buses is decreasing. The university authorities do not buy any new bus though they earn a lot of money every year from the students as transportation fee. 1 don't understand what is the use of the money which they receive from the newly admitted students as transportation fee. They can buy at least two or three buses every year to lessen the sufferings of the students. But the authorities don't {jay any attention to the matter. The buses which are running at the moment are not in good condition. So the students have to suffer.
The university authorities should not ignore the issue any longer.
Kabir
Public Administration Department, DU
Clean and competent candidates
Thanks to Mr. Nurul Haque for his post editorial article on the above subject. In this connection I have a question, and I am also curious to know how one would ensure that a candidate meets those two basic criteria. Are the existing laws not sufficient to leave the dishonest (difficult to measure) candidates out before putting their names on the ballot? Without raising further issues on this, I would urge the informed readers to kindly suggest the names of ten most honest and competent persons who are qualified to contest the election. I wish. I am wrong, but I can assure you that the listed persons would not get pass marks, fix a pass mark, if properly screened out without fear or favour by the media with full transparency. Let us try this exercise and then see what is the result.
The powerful EC is making laws to determine the eligibility of the public servants to contest election. Here is my question: what about the advisers and special assistants, will they be allowed to participate in the coming election? The question is arising in our mind because some of the advisers are behaving like future politicians!
A reader
One-mail
Road accidents
We cannot accept premature deaths caused by accidents. Road crashes are a regular phenomena in the highways and cities. Every year accidents take hundreds of lives and leave thousand of others deformed or disabled. The indirect effect of the invisible monster is the downfall and untold sufferings of hundreds of thousands of other people who are family members of those victims. But why this unintendedholocaust?
A number of factors are responsible for the mishaps including the recklessness of drivers, drivers working over long a time at a stretch, the bad conditions of the roads and most importantly, the maddening race among the drivers. To eliminate the problem, or at least to lessen it to a minimum level, effective measures must be taken.
Md. Shobuj Chowdhury Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka
National Mourning Day
Khandaker Delwar Hossain, BNP(Khalcda) Secretary General, while talking to newsmen on the eve of observing National Mourning Day demanded that Ziaur Rahman's death anniversary be also declared what he called "national mourning day". This meant that the BNP supporters want to weigh Ziaur Rahman on the same scale with Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the father of the nation. The amount of individual contribution to the war of liberation varies from person to person. Our liberation war did not start on a single day all of a sudden on 26 March 1971.
It started In 1952 through the Language Movement. So, there were many contributors from among politicians, intellectuals, writers, teachers, students and judges. Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani bade farewell to Pakistani rulers long before March 26.
It was Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman who with the help ofseven crore people brought the climax and declared our independence. General Ziaur Rahman joined the liberation war from the day of climax. Before that he was a junior military officer in the Pakistani Army. Col. Osmani divided the war front into 11 sectors and Ziaur Rahman was posted as one of the Sector Commanders.
The Bangladesh government in exile returned to the liberated soil and started functioning. The new government rewarded Ziaur Rahman for his contribution and elevated him to the position of deputy commander in chief of the newly formed Bangladesh Army i.e. second to the then Col. Shafiullah. There were 9 other sector commanders who were recognised and rewarded for their contributions.
Ziaur Rahman came to the limelight of Bangladesh politics after the brutal killing of the father of the nation on 15th August 1975. There were many stories of Zia's rise which are known to everyone. The coup plotters, failing to run the country, installed Gen. Ziaur Rahman as Martial Law Administrator^ And this is the beginning of his carrier as politician.
If Bangladesh is to declare his death anniversary as national mourning day and national holiday, there are many of his colleagues who deserve the same rights and privileges from the state. Shafiqul Islam One-mail
Athletics in Bangladesh
So it is another summer Olympics capturing the dreams of the world, and we watched China and the USA fighting for supremacy. Korea, Japan and other countries also had medal hauls, so what about us? It is taken for granted that we will never get a medal in the Olympics, and for good reason at that. The Olympic disciplines are mostly ignored in our country. I study in a school famous for its soccer, and it's soccer only. Even though I am not bad in that sport, I would have really liked to train in sports like swimming, gymnastics or pole-vaulting, but that will never be possible!
Jayeed Naseeree
Grade 11
The Aga Khan School, Dhaka
Foreign currency exchange rates
I was wondering why there is so much difference between selling and buying foreign currencies in banks in Bangladesh.
The difference is more than 5 (five) percent for most of the foreign currencies. For example, if you want to sell a Euro you get Taka 98.00 and if you want to buy a Euro you pay Tk. 103.00 plus service charges. Similarly, there are big differences between selling and buying British Pound or US Dollar. In the past, the difference between selling and buying foreign currencies used to be 1 (one) percent only. I believe in most countries the difference is still around one or two percent.
I do not know if due to the open market policy Bangladesh Bank has the right to interfere and set the selling and buying rates of foreign currencies, but I am sure banks and foreign exchange dealers are having great days in foreign currency dealings. The present big difference in foreign exchange dealings also encourages people to go to the secondary market for better price.
Can Bangladesh Bank do anything about this for the sake of wage earners and travellers? Ziauddin Ahmed One-mail
Political Intelligence office
Thanks to the DS lor the editorial today on the above subject. The politicians have already expressed their apprehension about this new undemocratic step Those who would support the move, at least, do not believe in political freedom and are opposed to democratic values These are some of the examples by which the government is determined to achieve their orlgi nal idea of guided politicisation of the country. One would not be surprised to see how a group of civil society members and some known political faces are defending the step. Just add one more news item with it. The EC has asked the intelligence agency and the NBR to check the fact sheets of the elected candidates of the last 13 local council elections. This is another example of deliberate mismanagement of the election procedures, and puts Hie burden on the shoulder of the judiciary to give the final verdict. One organisation, a NGO or civil society cadre, I do not know, had been campaign ing to initiate such action by the EC. The question is, why these groups and the EC did not complete this clean up process before putting their names on the ballot?
The mindset of the government is difficult to understand. They are publicly saying that they would deliver democratic order, but on the other hand, arc encouraging undemocratic steps. Healthy democratic environment ensures that the public servants are controlled and guided by the political system and the politicians. In reality, we can see just the opposite. The government is definitely losing public trust regarding their promise to hold general election by December 2008. The EC is emerging to be the main visible player to destabilise the present peaceful atmosphere in the country. The EC s move to run after the officially elected candidates in the last LC election are nothing but an act of provocation to destabilize the present situation and create a blame game either to stop the general election or to stage a fully guided election with party and candidates of their choice.
We find little time is left to organise a creditable general election in. December 2008,-but _,there arg enough scopes to create political commotion making the general election uncertain, putting the blame on the politicians as usual. It is difficult to find any positive aspects in governance. They are taking full advantage of the state of emergency. This prolonged state of emergency has undermined the followings, and added few vegetative aspects to politics
a. The normal laws of the land have been undermined in spirit and application.
b. The scope and functions of the caretaker government have been changed making the system redundant in future.
c. The prolonged use of the state of emergency has challenged the justification of the state of emergency as envisaged in the constitution.
d. Political perversion has been strengthened.
e. External interference in our internal matters has been encouraged.
f. Laws have been promulgated without reference to public benefit, but to suit the requirement of the un-elected government to govern.
g. The judiciary has been made controversial by prolonged state of emergency and easy law making.
Areader
One-mail
Workers' interests
The Daily Star published in the last page on August 19, "Bangladeshi workers protest again in Kuwait". Aftpr rp.nHina thp rpnnrt I found nut
how the BANGLADESHI workers are deprived. We should support them and give positive vibes so that the world can know we are Protesting for our Rights, not for FUN.
There are so many issues in the Middle East that relate to workers and their rights, especially pay benefits, working hours, leave etc that are inhumane.
Please select the headings to serve the interests of our people.
A loyal reader
On e-mail
Western media and
South Ossetia
On August 8 we saw Georgia’s prowest President Saakashvili's misadventure in South Ossetia. But western media like CNN, BBC, AFP, AP etc. had launched a vigorous media propaganda from which one can conclude that it was Russia who first attacked Georgia. And they also portrayed Saakashvili as a hero who immediately wanted a ceasefire (only after his US trained army got a heavy’ beating by Russian's military). Among the number of conflicting interests, one is that Russia won't allow a NATO member at its doorstep and western powers need Georgia to extract energy from that region through the Black Sea. Through western media bias we the general readers, listeners or viewers get confused and fail to learn what actually happened.
We hope that our media will maintain neutrality and deliver the news with headlines after analysing it properly when they get it from different sources.
Muktadir Hussain Chowdhury Uttara, Dhaka
Publishers
I refer to the Op-Ed article (18 Aug) and agree with the writer entirely. I myself am a writer (In English) of many original scientific and other books (including poetry). As it was not possible to find a reputable publisher in UK (You need literary agent here to accept and then push your books for publication), I fell into the clutches of'vanity publishers' about 25 years ago who published one of my books here. The vanity publishers are so called because the whole cost of printing, publishing and distribution etc is borne by the author and the publishers have nothing to lose w’hether any book is sold or not As a matter of fact their main income consists of selling the book back to the author at a discounted price! These publishers are also well known to the critics and no book published by them are renewed in any literary journal. So I gathered much painful experience and then set up my own publishing firm and website(wrww.oaktow’npublicayio ns.com) to publish my own rather esoteric booksf knowm as self publishing as opposed to vanity publishing), which are not in great
public demand anyway.
After retiring from British Civil Service I set up a modest flat in Dhaka a few years ago for regular visits and aspirations to publish some of my books there. After getting in touch with some publishers in Dhaka to my amazement I found that all those that I contacted will be termed as ‘vanity publishers' in UK as they have no investment of their own money for the books published or for a new and unknown author, or proper marketing and distribution mechanisms. In other words there is no risk or effort taken by any publisher to assess a book, or to support or establish any young (or previously unknown) writer. Once a writer establishes himself/herself by his/her own efforts and expenditure, then publisher's mercenary instincts will take over for that writer or book'
So as I had to pay for the whole process I have set up a Publishing House myself in Dhaka as well.
Such a state of affairs cannot be good for the country. Publishing houses must be prepared to risk their money and reputation to sponsor young and unknown talented authors by paying them advances and publishing and marketing their work
Perhaps there are such proper publishers in Bangladesh. However I have not come across them. Engineer Shafi .Ahmed
London, UK