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Letting them Live

The other day, I came across a shabby looking boy on the street. He was sitting alone on the pavement by the premises of Ramkrishna Mission, Motijheel. The boy was about eight years old. When I asked him about his parents, he told me that he has never seen his mother and his father left him a few days ago to marry another woman. As he ended up with no money and had no place to live, he took refuge on the footpath. Now he begs for alms to the passersby and can manage only one meal a day. He knows the letters of the Bengali alphabet but has no knowledge in maths. However, he wants to go to school like every other kid. Stories like this are very common and a harsh reality for many children in our country. If only the solvent and educated members of the society come forward to help these underprivileged children, they would be able to live a better life.

Bipul K Debnath
Department of English, Dhaka College, Dhaka

For an Effective Democracy

	Photo: Kazi Tahsin Agaz Apurbo

Thanks to Sabhanaz Rashid Diya for her wonderful article named 'A brave new world', published in the September 23, 2012, issue of Star Campus. It's a matter of grave concern that the government has been imposing restrictions on online media. The move has certainly not been welcomed by millions of people who regularly use the internet and social

networking websites to communicate with a global audience. Freedom of expression is one of the main pillars of democracy. But the government's recent efforts to control the free flow of information are a severe blow to the principles of democracy. By pursuing these policies, the government is making itself extremely unpopular with the youth who use the internet to demonstrate their creativity, to raise voice against injustice and even to express their love for the motherland. As we do not live under the rule of an autocratic military regime anymore, it is only expected that we would enjoy full freedom of expression and would bear the fruits of our democracy.

Shehzad Aman
University of Dhaka, Dhaka.

The Menace of Session Jam

Every year, thousands of students get into public universities after appearing for rigorous admission tests. However, to manage a seat in the university dormitories, one has to get harassed by the political leaders who are popularly known as 'Boro vai'. The fresh students who refuse to participate in political processions or any political activities, the so called political leaders try to make sure that those defiant students do not get any seats in the dorms. Classes at the universities often remain suspended due to political violence on campus. As a result, students have to suffer from long session jams, which cause detrimental effects in students' careers later on. In fact, there have been cases where it took a student more than six years to complete a four year long bachelor's programme. So, public university students are lagging behind in competition with the rest of the world. I would request all the authorities concerned to free the students from this peril of session jam.

Ahasan Ul Ferdous
Department of Economics
Jahangirnagar University, Savar.

Words of Praises!

My heartfelt congratulations to the Star Campus on its sixth year anniversary. I have been a committed reader of the magazine since its very beginning. Perhaps, Star Campus is the only magazine in Bangladesh, which deals entirely with issues concerning students. However, the articles published in Star Campus are not repetitive by any means as they involve a range of topics starting from student politics and standard of education to recent campus trends and travelogues. It won't be an overstatement to say that, Star Campus has become a perfect platform for students from all over Bangladesh to express their opinions and to voice out their concerns. I wish Star Campus will continue to amaze us with more innovative articles in the coming years.

Farhana Afsari
University of Dhaka, Dhaka.