Feed Board

Smiles and Ambitions

Most of the madrasahs are situated in rural areas. They have played a significant role in improving literacy rate of children in villages-- especially, the poor families who cannot afford. Often times, we make unusual and negative remarks about Madrasahs and the students, which can be out of prejudice and misinformation. Most of us have obscure ideas about the entire madrasah system. I hope all the teachers get proper training, so that the teaching improves significantly at madrasahs. I had the privilege of studying at both Aliya and Qoumi Madrasahs. I am proud to be well educated on both Islamic and general education. Meanwhile, the government must think of initiatives and sustainable strategies to help Madrasah students flourish in all sectors of life.

Aziz Monir
University of Chittagong, Chittagong.

Distinctive Identity

	Photo: Md Ata Islam Khan Mojlish

Let's think about an established woman who is a successful career person. Despite such a respected position in society, the woman might have to adopt her husband's last name as she gets married. My question--why is it essential that the wife has to take in her husbands surname? What is essential is that women are given due respect for whoever they are. It is important to acknowledge women's identity other than just being a wife, and respect the fact they can be confident and strong, not only in their own fields, but also when they are competing with everyone else. More and more women are doing what are considered 'men's' jobs. Kudos to Sabhanaz Rashid Diya for writing the article called “The 'weaker' sex.”

Shehzad Aman
Dhaka University, Dhaka.

Padma Bridge: The dream of Bangladesh

The sought after project of building the Padma Bridge might bring a revolutionary change in the communication of Bangladesh, connecting southeastern part to the capital Dhaka. Unfortunately, the World Bank, one of the key donors, has cancelled their loan, which has deeply shocked the 1.6 million Bangladeshis. The government has announced that it wants to build the Padma Bridge with the fund of the nation, now that they have also failed to bring in loan from Malaysia. Such an act can have huge negative impacts, since this would affect other development projects in the country. I hope that the government works it out and takes the right decisions, so that the general masses of the country are not affected.

Rasel Osman
English Department, Dhaka College, Dhaka.

A Rejoinder to 'Ordeal at New Campus'

This is a reply to the feed 'Ordeal at New Campus' by Sadat Mohib Khan published on July 8, 2012. As far as I have seen, the fans and lights at the new campus of East West University have been working since the very beginning with the support of EWU's own standby generators, when the PDB electricity supply was not there. Water was always available in the washrooms as well. Only on one unfortunate day, the water was unavailable due to the sudden breakdown of two pumps. The air-conditioners did not work earlier but now all the lights, fans and even the air-conditioners are working in the classrooms. I guess in a developing country like Bangladesh we always have to deal with such problems. We can only be patient and expect fast solutions. I hope we don't have to face any inconvenience any more.

Nishat Jahan
Department of Pharmacy
East West University, Dhaka.