Letters
Good cover story
I want to thank SWM and Shamim Ahsan for their cover story (May 26, 2006).
In a remote village like Banchharampur, the Mahbubur Rahman Memorial Hospital is like an oasis. It is providing cheap and standard healthcare to the people who might otherwise have never been able to afford the medical costs for serious diseases. Thanks to the five Rahman brothers for their charitable work.
But it is really surprising that in comparison to a tiny village the cities lack good quality hospitals and doctors. The authorities of hospitals in Dhaka should take a lesson from the management of this charitable hospital. In order to stop people from rushing towards Dhaka for medical facilities the government should also take pragmatic steps to make hospitals in rural areas and improving the services of existing hospitals.
Shaikhul Akbar
Chuadanga Govt College
A timely cover story
It was about time that a cover story (May 19, 2006) was done on the issue of malnutrition. This has brought to our knowledge the condition prevailing in rural Bangladesh.
I was shocked to see the pale faces of the mothers and their hungry children. It seems as if they have been living with poverty for generations. It is a matter of shame that some of us go to dazzling shopping malls and buy things costing thousands of taka while a large section of our people go without food. If we could just extend our helping hand towards them the number of hungry people would go down. Hunger and malnutrition are obstacles for realising their hidden talent. It is unfortunate that they have to rely on the mercy of foreign donors.
Mohammad Imran Hossain
Voter list controversy
We are passing crucial times with the confrontational political mud-slinging between the two leading parties of our country.
Though there is no valid ground for accepting the voter lists, our ruling authority is trying their best to materialise this voter list for the upcoming election. We hope that the Election Commissioner will be compelled to retake the voter list. Otherwise further political clashes will lead to an undesirable tense situation in the country.
Md.Aftab Uddin,
Department of Management
Chittagong University
One useful channel please!
Isn't it worthless for a developing country to have so many TV channels when there is nothing worthwhile on these channels for the future of this nation? None of the channels have any effective education programmes. Some try to make last-minute arrangements for S.S.C and H.S.C candidates but they are just a waste. When most of our text books cannot keep pace with the modern education system, can we not hope that at least one of these eight TV channels will produce quality educational programmes in Bangla? I'm sure it will have a large audience as well.
Thanveer Hassan Jitu
Stop the blame game
The common people are showing their unity by forming strong non-political movements in an attempt to achieve their fundamental rights after enduring all the effortless failure of the government to serve the basic needs of the common people.
The opposition too besides fruitless cynicisms and boasting about their achievements is not providing any productive solution to the problems. The movement of the common people in Kansat and Shonir Akhra are clear evidence of that. It's a sign of alarm that if one fails to provide us with basic rights no blame game from either part would do them any good.
The common people want an amiable relationship between the two parties. If they can spare their effort on something productive we'll surely be benefited. They should stop testing our patience on their ridiculous blaming game and work for the greater interest of this poor country.
S. Reza Shosme
Dhaka University
HSC Examinees in a quandary
This year HSC examinees are going through a very difficult time because of frequent load-shedding and menace from mosquitoes. Even though they are very common problems in our country they have taken a serious turn this season compared to last year.
The sad part is that the government has not yet taken any measures to minimise the problem.
This government has succeeded in controlling cheating in public exams and also managed to raise the standard of education but they have totally failed to ensure a pleasant environment for the students to study at night.
Nazmus Saquib
An HSC Candidate
A request to the honourable leaders
I would like to make an earnest request to the political leaders of our country to kindly take some innovative measures for holding their election campaigns in the cities. It is a common practice for the politicians to hold their campaign meetings at critical places in the cities. This act creates havoc for the civilians. The congregation of the huge number of people along with their vehicles poses a horrendous stalemate situation on the streets making things difficult for the tired commuters.
With the election coming up, these meetings will be recurrent happenings across the country. I would like to request the leaders to come up with immediate measures to resolve this situation.
Rafiqul Islam Rime
Agrabad, Chittagong
Psychos in the city
Members of the so-called "AIDS ZONE" or "AIDS CLUB" move around in public places with contaminated needles and inject unwary passers-by with them.
Several such incidents have already been reported. The victims first had doubts about the claims of the tag. But on testing their blood, they have found proof of the presence of HIV virus. A reputed television channel has covered this incident. But it needs more coverage.
The authorities are still turning a blind eye on this matter. Though experts have said that the virus gets destroyed in the open air within a few minutes, the incidents cannot be taken lightly. It is our job to be careful when we are in a public place and also to inform others about these happenings. I think the NGO's should come forward to create public awareness on this matter.
Humam Jahanzeb
Submission Guideline:
Letters to the Editor, Dhaka Diary and Write to Mita, with the writer's name and address, should be within 200 words. All articles should be within 1,200 words. A cover letter is not necessary, but every write-up should include the writer's name, phone number and email address (if any). While SWM welcomes unsolicited articles and photographs, it cannot accept the responsibility of their loss or damage. SWM does not return unsolicited articles and photos. Response time for unsolicited write-ups range from three weeks to two months. All articles submitted are subject to editing for reasons of space and clarity.
All materials should be sent to: Star Weekend Magazine, 19 Karwan Bazar, Dhaka-1215, Fax: 880-2-8125155 or emailed to: <starweekendmag@gmail.com>
It is recommended that those submitting work for the first time to the SWM take a look at the sample copy beforehand. Our website is: http://www.thedailystar.net/magazine
Copyright (R) thedailystar.net 2006
