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Textbook Festival Day
The first day of the New Year 2013 was a great day for the primary and secondary students as it was Textbook Festival Day. They have received textbooks ahead of time. More than 26 crore books have been distributed across the country among 3.68 crore students. This is not for the first time that the day has been observed every year under the stewardship of the education minister. This is undoubtedly indicative of an effective education policy vindicated by recent PSC and JSC results. It is also a commendable effort taken by the educa-
tion ministry to upload all the primary and secondary books on the website of National Curriculum and Textbook Board. Besides, education minister warned the culprits of stern actions if found selling the free textbooks. It is a thank-you note to the education minister for doing these good turns for the students.
Samiul Raijul
Bangladesh University of Textiles
Dhaka
She returns empty-handed on Textbook Festival Day!
My sister, a student of Monipur High School, got up early on January 1,2013 and went to school with the hope of getting new books. She came to know from the media that this day will be observed as 'Textbook Festival Day'. She was very excited about getting new textbooks. She went to school facing much difficulty since most of the roads were dug for repairing. She reached school on time but she was told to come again at 1 o'clock the same day. She came back home and went to school again but the authorities told her to pay the readmission fee first for getting the books. My mother assured them that she would pay the readmission fee soon and requested them to give my sister a set of books but her request went unheard. At last, my little sister and other students came back home broken-hearted.
Md. Eyahia Khan Rejon Mirpur, Dhaka
Award harsh punishment for violence against women
The death of the 23-year-old girl, who was gang raped
in Delhi, India, has shocked me so much. I cannot imagine the sheer physical and mental pain that she went through just because she was a woman. Violence against women has increased despite the spread of education and awareness. Bangladesh is also no stranger to violence against women. Many women are being raped or burnt alive or killed by husbands and inlaws but the government has not woken up to the reality. Stringent punishment to the perpetrators of violence against women is urgent. Paying only lip service to the problem is not a solution.
Miton Kumar Gupto
Phulbari, Dinajpur
Change we need
The two major political parties have completely failed to fulfil people's expectations. Do they really understand democracy, the word they utter a million times in their speeches? I don't think they do. But we are bound to vote for one of these two parties as we do not have any alternative. People want something different from the political parties. We want new and committed leaders to run the country.
Md. Zahid Hossain Mollik
Mugdapara, Manda