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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

letters@thedailystar.net
Make ethylene cheaper than calcium carbide
In general, fruits become sweeter, less green, and softer as they ripen naturally. For export or for marketing in bulk, often fruits have to be picked long before they are ripened. The reason is that once they are ripened they go rotten quickly before even they are shipped. So, ethylene is used worldwide for ripening fruits, which is proven to be almost harmless to human body and it does not spoil the taste of the fruits.
However, it has been found that unscrupulous businessmen in Bangladesh use calcium carbide for ripening instead of ethylene, since the latter is costlier. Just to save a few bucks, these businessmen are using calcium carbide knowing very well that it is hazardous to our health. I would suggest that the government should withdraw all kind of taxes on importing ethylene so that it can become cheaper than calcium carbide. If necessary, government should subsidise it for the sake of public health.
Dr. Kamrul Hassan
Professor
Department of Physics Dhaka University
Traffic police's arrogance of power
The other day I was returning home from work at 6.00 pm when suddenly a traffic sergeant stopped my car which had tinted paper only on the rear windows. He asked me to remove this paper immediately, and without any delay I followed his instructions. My driver removed the tinted paper on the spot.
But the sergeant was behaving oddly and he snatched the car papers. I felt that he might be expecting bribe. So, finally, I asked him directly: "How much bribe do you want to let us go?" But it hurt his ego. Without a word he filed two cases against me. One was for tinted paper and the other for 'not following' the instructions, resistance and refusal to provide information.
My question is, what was the instruction that I had not followed? I certainly did not resist in any way! My crime was not giving him bribe. When this is how policemen behave, is it a wonder that murders and disappearances happen on a regular basis? While criminals are roaming freely, ordinary citizens are being harassed by the members of law enforcement agencies.
Saima Kamal
On e-mail
Why are our passports not valid for 10 years?
Now Bangladesh government is issuing Machine Readable Passports (MRP). I was wondering why the Bangladeshi passport is not made valid for 10 years instead of 5 years as it is now. To my knowledge, most of the countries of the world have been issuing passports to their citizens with 10-year validity since long. If our government does the same, it would save one from the hassles and inconvenience that one has to face for renewing one's passport every five year. This would also cut down the workload of the passport office and our embassies abroad.
Ziauddin Ahmed
On e-mail