BINOD Bihari Chowdhury strikes a responsive chord when he demands a cancellation of plans to have two old and reputed schools demolished in Chittagong. More to the point, the veteran revolutionary echoes our collective belief that heritage, being a part of a nation's history, cannot be subsumed to interests of a mundane nature. That is why the plans of the Chittagong City Corporation to have the two schools, Aparna Charan City Corporation Girls' High School and Krishna Kumari City Corporation Girls High School, demolished so that a 16-storey structure can be constructed on the premises appear untenable not only to residents of the port city but also citizens all across the country. It is simply outrageous that the city corporation plans to relocate the schools in the new building and set up with it a number of commercial establishments.

The mayor of Chittagong and those who agree with him that the two schools should be done away with should heed public sentiment on the issue. ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury must remember that he simply cannot push educational institutions aside in the interest of business. An important reason why such sentiments are there is that the schools in question have been part of Bangladesh's history, with such names as Pritilata Waddedar's associated with them. Obviously, the CCC's plan has deliberately ignored such heritage. That much has been made clear by the mayor's stubborn refusal to shelve his plan and indeed he has demonstrated his indignation (when in truth the indignation should rightly be that of citizens) at what he thinks people's lack of understanding about the demolition plan. We think that the high office he holds is one whose reputation he must live up to. The twb-hour token hunger strike observed to protest the plans to demolish the school should have been regarded as a potent sign of popular sensitivities on the subject. And let us not forget that when as aged and as respected an individual as Binod Bihari Chowdhury emerges in public to lend his voice to the demand for a cancellation of the mayor's plans, it is the conscience of a society that speaks out.

We believe that demolishing the two schools, both of which have been in existence for eighty years, will undercut our tradition and at the same time put the future of the present students of the schools at risk. It is morally wrong to have schools situated on top of shopping centres; and it is sheer folly to expect teenaged girls to compete with others to find a place on lifts or elevators so that they can reach their classrooms. The CCC plan is a bad idea. And as is done with bad things, let this bad idea be dropped.