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       Volume 11 |Issue 44| November 09, 2012 |


   Inside

 Letters
 Voicebox
 Chintito
 Cover Story
 Neighbours
 Perspective
 Travel
 Achievement
 Hay Fest Promo
 Writing the Wrong
 Interview
 Food for Thought
 Star Diary
 Musings
 Economy
 Impressions
 Perceptions
 Reflections
 Book Review
 Cartoon
 Postscript

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Letters

Making the Big Screen

In the last couple of years, Bangladesh has found some young talented film makers who have brought a revolution to our film industry and they present us with some outstanding creations. Keeping the youth as a major focus, they make films and drama which bring great change to our ongoing lives. And honestly speaking, Mostofa Sarwar Farooki is the pioneer of this. I heartily thank the writer for featuring this asset to the film industry and disclosing much of his life. It's a matter of pride for a Bangladeshi film to be screened at an international film festival and achieve praise.

Although he has no academic qualification in this field, he has proved, if someone has dedication and a willing mind to do something, he can. Many of us were saddened at the poor performance of this industry but with Farooki's hand, this sector has been revived. He is our pride and we are truly considering him as a current messenger of our present film industry.

Md Azam Khan
Uttara Bank Ltd, Barisal


A Remarkable Transformation

 
 
Photo: Amirul Rajiv

I thank the Star for the photo feature published on November 2, 2012. It was really nice to see something one would otherwise expect to find installed in a city like London or New York. It is great to see Dhaka City Corporation North transforming public spaces like Karwan Bazar underpass into a butterfly cave. I would however like to draw attention to the fact that there are no women walking through the underpass in the photos. It may well be that five minutes later a woman did use the underpass but really, it is this sort of barrier that the local authorities should be looking to break. Underpasses pose serious safety concerns for women walking alone or with others. While making underpasses more presentable and interesting to pedestrians helps remove undesirable and dangerous people from these spaces, maybe more can be done to make women feel comfortable enough to use such a place.

Nisha Haque
Chicago, USA



Photo: Munir Ahmed Ananta

The Plight of the Domestic Worker

Recently an excellent article in the Star magazine on the human rights issue of the domestic workers in our country ('Cleaning Up Our Act' October 12, 2012) reported that an overwhelming 93.5 percent of the parents of domestic workers do not have the address for their child in the city. However, our domestic workers, especially the female workers, face an even greater peril when they go to work abroad. News of horrific abuse of the migrant domestic workers by their employers is not uncommon. Countries like Sri Lanka and Indonesia have altogether stopped sending female domestic workers to Middle Eastern countries after news of frequent abuse surfaced in the newspapers. It is difficult for a migrant victim to contact the authorities in a foreign country, let alone their relatives at home, thousands of miles away. Our foreign missions have to go a long way before they can monitor and ensure the well being of individual migrant workers. Under such circumstances, we need to rethink our policy and stop sending female domestic workers to Middle Eastern countries until the government is able to place the necessary safeguards.

M Mahbub
Mohammadpur, Dhaka


More Farce than Fiction

The Star's satirical Eid issue was a refreshing look into the most chaotic, snobbish and ridiculous features of our country. Sure, it's all created under the guise of fictitious satire but really, there's more truth than fiction behind the farce.

'Kodom's Konsultancy' and 'Where Dreams Come True' are just samples of what are not so ridiculous in the far away land of Bongoland. I really enjoyed 'The VIP Status Board' letter and wonder if any of the magazine's readers see themselves in this kind of VIP role. All fun aside, do we not want to change ourselves a little bit so that we do not come across as such a wannabe, so snobbish, and most importantly not so corrupt? Comedy has a beautiful way of presenting reality without offence but I sincerely hope readers took away the critical messages behind each funny story. Laughing about ourselves is great, but surely no one wants to be the subject of ridicule?

Kazi Fahmid Mansoor
Sylhet


Satire during Festivities

The Eid-ul-Azha festivities were a lot more pleasurable after reading the enjoyable fictitious stories in the Star's satire issue, which had a combination of topics and articles of interest. The creativity and wit of the writers was laudable, especially the satires on the various problems of the land of the Queens.

Like the previous issue on the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr this year, the Star magazine provided its readers yet another great read. Many thanks to the writers for regaling us through the thick and thin.

Mashudul Haque
Central Road, Dhaka


The opinions expressed in these letters do not necessarily represent the views held by the Star.

Submission Guideline:

Letters to the Editor, Star 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 The Star welcomes unsolicited articles and photographs, it cannot accept the responsibility of their loss or damage. The Star does not return unsolicited articles and photos. Response time for unsolicited write-ups ranges from three weeks to two months. All articles submitted are subject to editing for reasons of space and clarity.

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