::: Star Weekend Magazine :::

Dhaka Diary

RAB a blessing????
It was the day after Eid ul Azha, when we were on our way to Chandpur to attend our aunt's wedding ceremony. We boarded the 'Mayur', a launch which then had about 30 minutes left to leave the terminal. I took the chance and decided to walk around and look about the place. The terminal was full of fruit sellers, vagabonds, etc., and the whole environment somehow seemed absolutely disgusting. Suddenly from where no, four members of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) entered the terminal and began to shout at the fruit sellers seated in the wrong area. One of them even started to beat those who were selling their items on the walking space, which actually had been causing a lot of problems for the passers-by. Seeing this, the other vendors quickly got up and positioned themselves properly. Within a few minutes the terminal became quite clean and tidy. I was really captivated with the Battalion's swift job and thought about how, at least, the RAB may gain a few brownie points through their roadside cleaning programmes!

Jafrin Jahed Jiti VNC

The Idiosyncrasies of Cops
The other day I was in Dhanmondi where I spotted some police officers disturbing a couple. It was 7:30 in the evening and the couple were simply chatting, leaning against each other. The police officers stated that they were engaging in illegal and illicit behaviour. The harassment continued for up to 15 minutes. The cops slapped the guy a couple of times. After some time, the guy was taken to a corner and he handed over a Tk. 50 note to one of the officers. If he had done that in the very beginning, he could probably have avoided being hit in public. It is pathetic that our law enforcers engage in such cheap and disruptive behaviour and can draw such damaging conclusions just to earn some money. Also, they freely use physical force whenever they feel like it.

Arbab Quadri Dhanmondi

Smoking away to glory
A couple of weeks ago, I, along with some relatives, visited a famous amusement park. There we enjoyed all kinds of rides starting from the Roller Coaster to Bumper Cars. After doing with the rides, we eagerly awaited the concert which was scheduled at around 7:00 pm. At about 7:30 pm, a lot of people started gathering around the stage and began to prepare for the upbeat performance by the musicians. Though most of them were young, some of the elderly people were also there to enjoy. They however, moved away to a safer area. Not only was the crowd growing bigger, the air around was also getting smokier. Many young boys and girls, enjoying the concert, were smoking cigarettes and ganja. Gradually, the whole area turned into a smoker's paradise! Not only were my relatives from the village shocked at this, a British friend of mine at the park was also highly shocked and disappointed at the behaviour of the youngsters. This kind of thing should not be allowed in amusement parks, where various kinds of people like to come and enjoy a moment out of their busy lives.

Sagor Notre Dame College