Letters
RAB
Smells of a Rat
Amidst much pomp, the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) celebrated
its first anniversary last week. Though around a thousand
people have so far been killed in the hands of this so-called
elite law enforcing crew. The government remains as boastful
as ever. As if killing people in so-called crossfires is
not enough, our high-flying home minister wants to add helicopters
to RAB's armoury. To make a mockery of his zeal, a RAB member
was caught only days ago red-handed, allegedly while mugging.
Cases of threats and intimidation by RAB members or goons
in the guise of RAB remain high. It is funny and equally
tragic that the force that was primarily created to enforce
law and order has become such a major source of insecurity.
As the government and opposition remain as oblivious as
ever, the question remains how many deaths will it take
till we learn that too many people have died?
Asheque Ilahi Shams
Dhaka
Errors
in Textbooks!
Bangladesh is a developing country, with a literacy rate
of about 44 percent. The Government of Bangladesh is trying
to increase the rate but fails due to faults in their administration,
which is leading the students to learn but with the incorrect
concept.
I am a student of O'level at Maple Leaf International school.
I teach my younger brother who is in Class-VI at Junior
Laboratory School. While teaching him, I was shocked to
see that a geometry theorem in one of his math books is
fully nonsensically devised.
This is like a curse for a country such as ours. What will
be in store for our country's future if this kind of slip
finds its way into text books! Should we not help the younger
generation to learn the best to help build a bright future?
Shaikat Zaman Chowdhury (Leon)
On Email
On
Slice
I'm extremely delighted to find Richa Jha at her best in
her recent features published in SWM.
Richa, in her unique style, has exposed the frailties, hollowness
and the extreme meanness of the megalomaniacs who are dominating
the social circles. In this society of tilted balance of
privileges, powerful men and women are fulfilling their
whimsical desires outright even at the expense of others'
welfare. It's vividly exposed in "The Spa Conspiracy"
where the psychopathic Madam is mad about opening a spa
centre in town, as it appears tiring for her to go abroad
every 15 days for health care. In getting her centre built
she does not care about the school that is near the location
of the desired spa. These home truths about our society
are always exposed in her features.
The meanness of people in general, the irrational force,
is most humorously dealt with in all her articles. Profound
wit and humour with a strong banter and most importantly
her keen power of observation of things that range from
her personal life to the people and events around her are
a prerequisite for a good writer. Congrats to Richa. We
look forward to reading more articles like these.
Rafiqul Islam Rime
Agrabad, Chittagong
A
Fan
I am a regular reader of SWM and I find that reading SWM
is very enjoyable. It was always a good magazine but for
the last five or six months it has gone from being good
to the best news magazine in Bangladesh. The reasons for
this are partially because of the introduction of new sections,
such as Education, Time Out and Sci-tech. These three sections
are not only informative but also educational. Readers can
get relevant knowledge from them. I would like to give thanks
to SWM for publishing these columns. However, I have a small
suggestion. I feel that SWM should publish a new section
on the Islamic aspects of life. I hope that SWM will consider
my request.
Nasim Imtiaz Khan Lincoln
On Email
Life
Limited
The cover story "Life Limited" has touched my
heart deeply. People -- especially men--seem to have the
misconception that women are meant to stay at home, be a
good mother, be a good cook and take care of the all the
family members. Our society thinks that women have no value
of their own. Women become dependent on either their parents
or their husbands. They do not have their own identity.
They are known only through their father's or husband's
identity. All men and women should have equal rights but
unfortunately we do not. We women are just trapped inside
a society run by men. We have no space for ourselves.
Rubaida Sharmin
On Email
On
Last Week's Cover
I was thrilled after reading last week's cover titled "Destination
Bangladesh". It was inspiring to read about the people
who have returned from a much better future with the simple
thought of giving something back to their motherland. I
know many people who are going abroad to study and once
they see all the opportunities that are already available
to them there, they stay there and seldom look back. I guess
it is always hard to come back and start something new from
scratch. We are simply too used to being spoon-fed from
our very childhood, as our parents and loved ones are always
around to make sure we do not venture into any hardships.
I feel that these people and their contributions deserve
a lot more attention and once people see all the opportunities
that are available to them here, they would surely come
back to their homeland. I guess it should be mentioned at
this point that the main reason most people leave is because
of the sinking socio-political scenario of the country.
If the government and the opposition stop their bickering
and come together to solve these problems, we would have
more 'crusts' of the nation coming back to contribute to
a brighter tomorrow and a prosperous Bangladesh.
Muntasir Mohammad Bhuiya
Chairmanbari, Banani
Submission
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