Teaching of English to poor

English, which the Indian nationalists once denounced as "a tool of colonialism," has now become not only the lingua franca of multilingual India, but also a major asset in its rise as a global IT superpower. Now members of India's underprivileged caste, the untouchables or "Dalits" (downtrodden), are clamouring for access to English which is monopolised by English-educated upper castes. The Dalits have gone one step further and erected a granite temple dedicated to what they call "the Goddess English," hailing her as a deity of liberation from poverty and ignorance.

Computer pedestal resonates today especially due to the association of English with India's technology boom, which is responsible for creating a new middle class of software programmers. These programmers are India's English-speaking elites who are almost entirely composed of members of higher castes. The Dalits want a share of India's prosperity by learning English. Shyam Babu, a Dalit scholar agrees: "English is no longer just a language — it's a skill. Without it you remain an unskilled labourer."

Although Bangladesh has no such untouchable caste, its poor have very little access to teaching of English. With millions of Bangladeshis seeking work abroad, proficiency in English is becoming crucial to their success in foreign lands.

Mahmood Elahi

Ottawa, Canada

Judiciary and corruption

The publication of the TIB report on corruption in judiciary is mostly related to the activities of the "Peshkars", which probably means those who place the case files serially to the honourable members of the bench! These and the other subordinate staff manage the queue of the dockets and do the necessary processing of the various papers and documents related to the court's order of proceedings.

This is a possible area which can be improved, and the lead time probably rationalised; that is managed by the bureaucracy of the court hierarchy.

This is a probable area of weakness, which has been loosely spelled out as 'corruption in judiciary'.

One reason could be the frustration in the time taken for trials, particularly due to repeated postponements of hearing dates. This is an area which may need some form of rationalisation. May be some type of harsh fines, covering all costs and overheads related to the delay, may be imposed on the litigant who seeks postponement. Another bottleneck is the lack of the number of judges, compared to the number of civil cases coming up for trial. We may have more courts established to handle larger numbers of cases.

S.A. Mansoor

Dhaka

Beware, our enemies!!

When I read the report that a trawler carrying 20 to 25 Nasaka troops detained 10 of our fishermen in the Bay of Bengal on gun point leaving a message to the owners of the fishing boats demanding a ransom of Tk 12 lakh, a chill coursed through my veins. I felt humiliated. Memories of Pilkhana tragedy came crowding in my mind. I thought who actually was behind the killings. The enemies that carried that carnage are now reaping the benefit from the weakened Border Guard of Bangladesh.

I remembered the scene how the girl named Felani was shot dead by the BSF while she was stuck and hanging from the border fence, how the Indians were occupying our lands in Sylhet, how we are enslaved by the BSF. Every day we Bangladeshis are falling victim to the BSF and occasionally to the Nasaka. But why? It is because our government is not assertive. It sold its soul to the enemy. But beware, our enemy! Our valiant people have started to rise from the ashes like phoenix. They are using ballot to reply the bullet and steadily bettering their condition on their own, come what may.

AS

On e-mail

Remembering late

Nurul Islam

One of the saddest news I came across during my recent visit to Bangladesh was the death of Nurul Islam bhai, in spite of the fact that we all wait for a final call from our creator.To me, the life of such an amazing individual ended untimely. He was a role model in good behavior, helping others in whatever way possible.

I acknowledge my debt to him, his soul for all-out cooperation and suggestions he offered me. His affection and care had huge impact in the preparatory and formative stages of my youth and education life.

Late Nurul Islam will survive in the minds of his dearest and nearest ones forever. I pray to the Almighty Allah for eternal peace of his soul.

Md. Sahed Ali

Vancouver, British Columbia

Canada

Where are the tickets gone?

Cricket World Cup, the event we all Bangladeshis adore and eagerly wait for, are knocking at our door. We were hoping to experience the magnificent prowess of our players, and the fact that Bangladesh is hosting a number of games this year just heightened our excitement.

But who thought the attempt to buy tickets for watching the games would be so elusive? When we went to buy our desired tickets, all we could see was the long queue and the people's disheartened faces. Soon it was clear enough that many of us would fail to fulfill our wish to witness the matches from the gallery.

Why have so little number of tickets been issued in the first place? The government is aware about the massive number of cricket fans in this country. Then why should we face all those quagmires? Is some kind of a clout playing its role all along? Whom have all the tickets been issued for? Can anyone answer?

Rafi Abdullah

North South University

Well thought proposals

I want to thank Mr. Pradiip Das, Lecturer BHPI, CRP for his letter published in The Daily Star on January 24, 2011. It is a well thought letter which touched two important issues. His request to arrange a debate on the most burning issues of the country is praiseworthy. And his proposal about giving recognition to letter writers is quite interesting. Those who write in this column spend their time and energy for the welfare of the country; try to attract the attention of the concerned authorities on various problems, giving suggestions and ideas.

I had started writing in The Daily Star many years ago, my first letter was published on May 4,1994, till now the number of my letters published in this newspaper are 543 (five hundred and forty three). I am grateful to The Daily Star for publishing my letters but I do not know if these letters are noticed by the authorities concerned. Though it is very disheartening, I am still carrying on, hoping all the efforts will not go in vain.