Letters
On 'Treasures at Risk'
It is an irony that the national museum, the leading storehouse of the relics of the past, does not have the proper infrastructure and financial support system to showcase the artefacts for the public, to raise awareness especially among the children through educational programmes and to strengthen security measures which make the total conservation and awareness procedure vulnerable leading to the destruction of some of the fantastic art exhibits of the past civilisations.
We must keep in mind that no nation can prosper without preserving the past. The governments of Bangladesh and other countries must stand under a common platform to stop trafficking of invaluable artefacts of the nations to honour the evolution of the civilisations and more significantly, an effective mechanism must be developed to ensure integrity, responsibility, efficiency and accountability of the museum authorities which will safeguard our past glorious heritage and cherish them.
Amit Abdullah
Department Of Finance, DU
Background Work Necessary
I read the article 'Fire Flies of Hope' (March 7, 2008) eagerly because Kishoreganj is a place I love very much. It's also my hometown. But I was disappointed because the author had little information about this district. I would like to inform her that Kishoreganj itself is a district under the division of Dhaka and not under Mymensingh as she had mentioned. One should know about one's home district and its historical background before writing anything about it. Kishoreganj has a glorious past and people of this district contribute a lot for Bangladesh from the very beginning. If anyone looks at the political and cultural arena, one will find a lot of faces who come from Kishoreganj. Most of the people of this particular place possess an easy-going personality and are also very helpful to others. One thing that I've noticed the last time I went there is that SWM is a very popular magazine for the young.
I request the author to gather more information about a place before doing a story.
Jewel Rana
Katiadi, Kishoreganj
Purity and Popularity
I was on my way to campus when two young men were talking about applying for a job. They were saying that they could not write Bangla properly but in this particular job they had to write something in Bangla. They also spoke in a tone that suggested they were proud of not knowing Bangla very well. That's when I realised the significance of the article 'Preserving Purity' (February 22, 2008). It is very shameful for us that we cannot respect our most valuable wealth (our language) for which many brave people sacrificed their lives. There is no denying that we cannot preserve its purity. Hindi and English has had a huge influence on the young generation, which is quite obvious from their conversation. But the worst thing is the recent influence on people's language of TV serials like '69' or 'Bachelor'. I agree with both Prof. Serajul Islam and Prof Abdullah Abu Sayeed that we should try to preserve the pure form of Bangla. What Mostofa Sarowar Faruki wants to say in the name of real language is in no way acceptable. We should all remember that ours is a language for which many had to sacrifice their lives. No one has the right to play with it.
Mushfique Wadud
Department of English
Stamford University Bangladesh
Living Alone
Reading the cover story 'Living Solo' (March 14, 2008) made me wonder if the author is suggesting that by living in rented/owned accommodation in Gulshan, Banani or Dhanmondi, women are succeeding in redefining their roles in society. If this is what the author intends the readers to identify as the take-home message, then I seriously doubt that examples of a few women, from the upper earning bracket, is about to begin a social revolution. Though I agree that it takes positive mental make-up for 'single' women in any society to succeed, the article only convinces me that they are exceptions, rather than a trend. I also feel that the article has ignored any underlying, albeit small, but significant support structures these women may already have.
While I agree that having lived in a 'westernised' society, women's perception of freedom is influenced, I cannot equate 'living in one's own space' with having independence and freedom. To me freedom means having choices and independence means to live that freedom, until this is significantly reflected in our society across the board, examples of a few women is not even a drop in the ocean.
Nahid Rahman
University of Oxford, UK
****
It's disheartening that intolerance society shows towards women living by themselves without a male head of the household. The theme of the cover story 'Living Solo' was excellent and the subject is very new. Surprisingly four of the five women covered in the issue live in Gulshan and the other in Banani. People from Gulshan and Banani are not the true representation of our country. The same awkward situation is arising in the lives of a huge number of women from middle or lower middle class families. The discussion could have been made more acceptable as well as representative by considering their lives as well. It's really difficult for a divorced woman to live with her parents as they feel ashamed of her instead of empathising with her. Even in some cases I found parents tell their divorced daughter that she is the culprit for the divorce. We must change our mentality towards how a man-woman's relationship should be.
Md. Nasir Uddin Laskar
Amar Ekushey Hall, DU
Discriminatory Advertisement!
Radio Foorti has recently been promoting discriminatory advertisements. One particular advertisement where a male voice asks a young lady, “Rich family, better offspring, only son… then what is your problem?” referring to why she was refusing to marry this man. The young lady's scornful reply that it's because he's bald is very humiliating for bald men.
The concepts behind fairness cream advertisements also try to establish in our subconscious mind that dark skin is bad. Should we then hate people with dark skin and neglect bald-headed people?
I would like to request Radio Foorti and all other media especially the electronic media to stop this barbarous promotional activity just for the sake of money. Shouldn't 'ethics' get a chance against 'business'?
Shamim Murad
Shankar, Dhanmondi, Dhaka 1219
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