Letters

A False Dawn?
I wrote in the Daily Star about the performance of the Caretaker Government, who had led us to believe for once that all citizens are equal in the eye of the law. After this we thought that the political parties of our country would be careful and mend their ways. But is it really happening now? Partisan politics, uncontrolled comments by the ministers, misuse of power, politics of name changing -- everything can be seen nowadays. Is it a good thing for the government or for the country? My humble request to the ruling party: please try to be fair, think about the development of the country, concentrate on keeping your promises. Request to the opposition: help the government by indulging in constructive criticism and take part in the development of the country.
Ratan Adhikary Ratul.
Dept. of Business Administration,
SUST, Sylhet.

Political blame game should be stopped

After the murder of Cantonment Thana Chhatra League President AKM Faruk Hossain, local and central leaders of the ruling party's student organisation blamed Chhatra Shibir. But the victim's relatives denied the Shibir link with the killing. Similarly, after the murder of Mohiuddin, a student of Chittagong University, both Chhatra League and Chhatra Shibir blamed each other. If this blame game continues real killers will go unpunished. So these nasty politics should be stopped immediately.
Ariful Islam
Dept. of English.
Chittagong College.

Dirty Politics
In the last few days, our parliament has certainly become the centre of news. Many thanks to the opposition that they have finally realised that by joining the parliament, we can establish a real democracy in the country. But we were all disappointed when we saw the members of parliament getting involved in dirty talk about two of the greatest legends ever in the history of Bangladesh. Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and Ziaur Rahman. They are great leaders and their contributions can never be forgotten or ignored. Everyone knows the history. There is no chance of changing the history in this 21st century when we have gotten computers and other things to preserve them. So what is the point of this debate? Why should we fight about a topic which had been resolved years ago? And the people who are doing all these are those whom we the common people have elected as our representatives. It is a great shame to all of us. Belittling our national leaders who had contributed so much for our independence is a sin. A sin that can never be forgiven or forgotten. It is time for us to move forward. The MP's should talk and debate about the present and future of the country. It's time we move forward for a better and prosperous Bangladesh. It's time to realise our unfinished dreams.
Mohammad Mahdin,
Dhanmondi
Dhaka

To Strive and not to Yield
When the whole world is facing environmental disaster and holding high-profile summits like COP-15 to cope with the growing crisis facing the world we are busy worrying about destructive student politics. When films like 2012 are focusing on the coming Eco-hazard, the so-called students in our country are creating a hazard for our country. Where will the government focus? Experiencing the evil doings of the so-called student leaders almost all over the country, the real students became panicked. The students for whom the residential facilities are established are leaving from the halls as there is no way to stay without being involved in this dirty politics. It should be a wakeup call to all to resist this destructive trend and make the atmosphere congenial for education.
Ahsan Uddin Tohel
Department of English
Shah Jalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet.

Arsenic Alert!
Bangladesh has been suffering from a silent epidemic and it is the problem of arsenic. This pollution has been increasing around the country over the past decades. Bangladesh condition at arsenic pollution is very dreadful. For the past two decades the water from over a million tube-wells has been slowly poisoning Bangladeshi villagers with naturally occurring arsenic. Over 18 millions people are drinking this poisoned water daily.
Arsenic is naturally produced in pyrite bedrock underlying much of West Bengal. The poisoning began to occur as millions of kiloliters of water was being pumped out from deep within underground reservoirs. As a result the water level dropped and exposed the arsenic-bearing pyrite to air leading to oxidisation, a reaction that flushed arsenic into the remaining water.
Arsenic is a slow killer that accumulates in the body resulting in nails rotting, dark spots, bleeding sores, swelling, large warts and a form of gangrene. It is carcinogen increasing the risk of skin cancer and tumours of the bladder, kidney, liver and lungs.
As a result of widespread water contamination domestic abuse has become just one of the social costs. There are now many reports of broken marriage, as husbands send disfigured wives back to their parents. In arsenic polluted areas many young men and women don't get married at all. Some people think the poison can be passed on from parent to child so many arsenic poisoned women have problems finding husbands.
So, it is high time for the Bangladesh government and non-government organisations to concentrate on this problem and take appropriate steps as soon as possible to do defend Bangladesh from arsenic's damage.
Mohammed Jamal Uddin
Dept. of English Language and Literature
International Islamic University,Chittagong.

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