Shame
for the Nation
I
am astonished how the concerned inept civil servants
are still continuing with their jobs after such a
grand failure in the 49th conference of CPA. They
disgraced the whole nation by displaying their mismanagement
and inefficiency. They even failed to play our national
anthem in front of a thousand dignitaries. They should
pay for tampering with our nation's pride. It is for
these kind of people who will go unpunished on every
occasion that we have secured the title of the world's
number one corrupt country for three consecutive years.
Corruption is everywhere, and anyone involved in any
kind of mismanagement or scam often goes scot-free;
they may even be rewarded for all the wrong reasons.
So, in consistence with the voice of Monir in the
letter published on October 7, 2003, I want to say
that, Bangladesh is really now a hopeless place. The
fact that we are sitting idle is a shame for this
nation.
Mominul Hasan Rintu
Asian University
Kudos
for Womenfolk
Iranian
Human Rights activist Shirin Ebadi has received the
2003 Nobel Peace Prize. She is the first Muslim woman
who has been honoured in such a way. This is a matter
of pride for womenfolk world-wide. Her prize indicates
that human rights, women empowerment and democracy
should be decorated in a new shape. I hope human rights
will be recognised in the days ahead. Hats off to
Ebadi!
Molla
Mohammad Shaheen
University of Dhaka
Corrigendum
"
It is with a sense of horror, that had nothing to
do with the intended horror of the stories, I found
that the Internet version of my 'The Haunted Abbey'
(Oct. 17 & 24) was totally devoid of italics which
rendered the italicised portions meaningless! The
same was true of 'A Messenger of Love' (Oct. 31) where
Mother Teresa's words have not been differentiated
from mine (tantamount to crucifying the saint-to be!)
Why has this happened and can it please be corrected?"
-- Neeman Sobhan.
Thank
you for pointing out the problem which never happened
earlier when the attachments intended for the Internet
version were formatted directly. Recently a new method
had to be used to resolve a glitch in the programme
to avoid files getting corrupted, which required pasting
the document through a command that completely erases
italics and puts everything in a single font. We are
extremely sorry for this error. We will resolve this
ASAP.
--Editor, SWM
"Can't
our ministers be punctual?"
In
his article (October 31) in the Magazine, Mahfuz Anam
has expressed disgust about the ministers not being
punctual in attending functions which they 'grace'
with their presence as chief guests or special guests,
etc. It is sad indeed that we continue inviting them
and they continue to disgrace us by their delays.
In the past it was a mark of social prestige to have
these people at our weddings and other ceremonies.
Now their presence is becoming so common that they
are not even reported in the newspapers, as it was
the case before. I consider this a step forward. The
public should also make a point not to invite ministers
to 'grace' every function they are organise. We must
ask ourselves whether inviting the government minister
is very relevant to the occasion. It is unfair to
blame the ministers alone. It is the members of the
public who also share the blame as they often invite
ministers unjustifiably putting constraint on the
schedule of these busy men. In this regard, the media
also has a responsibility. It should not report a
minister's presence if it is not relevant to the occasion.
Rezaul Islam
Uttara, Dhaka
