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     Volume 4 Issue 19 | October 29, 2004 |


   Letters
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Letters

Blood and Gore in Newspapers
I strongly agree with the article titled "How Gory Do We Need to Get?" written by Kajalie Shehreen Islam in SWM, dated October 22, 2004. It is very common for many newspapers in Bangladesh to use disturbing, graphic pictures to depict the real scenario. They do not understand the depth of the impact on society. They are overlooking the important fact that newspapers are accessible not only to adults but to children as well, including very young ones, who may very well be psychologically affected by such pictures. It is not even as if such graphic pictures are published only once in a blue moon. Such incidents occur almost every day in our country and so the pictures accompanying them have become routine as well. The authorities should look into the matter. These things hamper our reputation abroad as well, as the pictures are also put on the internet for the rest of the world to see. If newspapers have to overstep the limits of decency by publishing such pictures, it probably means that their pen is not powerful enough.
Arman Khan
Singapore

Richa Jha at her Best
I was extremely delighted to find Richa Jha at her best in her amazing article titled "The Big Bang" in the October 15 issue of SWM. She is a great storyteller who has an acute sense of how to rub salt on a wound! She creates hilarious pictures out of the most simple things. Her readers not only derive pleasure out of her articles but also find themselves very much involved in her storytelling! Her tongue-in-cheek keeps her readers on the verge of suffocation from never-ending laughter! We see how pitiable at times, The Hubby is! She creates a gripping phenomenon making it difficult for readers to take sides because of the twists and turns of the story! I, however, feel that she sometimes takes too much pleasure in making The Hubby a laughingstock while she sits on the throne of The Hubby's mind as well as the story itself! Her sense of humour with a touch of sarcasm is amazing while her words set the perfect mood for the story.
Rafiqul Islam Rime
Agrabad, Chittagong

Thanks, SWM
I think the new On Campus column in SWM has opened a window for the readers, especially university students. I would like to thank SWM for this great initiative on behalf of all university students. I hope that the column will be a regular one and will soon become very popular among the readers.
Premananda
Sher-E-Banglanagar

Cover Photos of SWM
There is no doubt that SWM is the best English weekly magazine in Bangladesh. But I am critical about some of its cover photos. For instance, the cover photo of the October 8 issue was taken from the Shahbagh bus stand where a number of passengers were seen in queue waiting for the bus. What I would like to know is whether the photographer took the permission of the subjects of the photograph before taking the picture. I know that many people, especially some women, would not appreciate seeing a picture of themselves waiting in line for a bus on the cover of a magazine. If the photographers took permission before taking these pictures, it's alright. However, if they did not, they should be more careful next time about respecting other peoples' sense of privacy.
Wajahat Anwar
Dhaka College

In Retrospect
I express my heartfelt thanks to Azizul Jalil for writing the reminiscences of his youth and his days in the Civil Service, especially those pieces that relate to imminent personalities like Moulana Bhasani, Bangabandhu and Netaji. However, his write-up on Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose needs a small correction. Jalil has said that at his father's insistence, Subhas Bose joined the Indian Civil Service and as an ICS he joined the Calcutta City Corporation as its Secretary. This is not correct and I hope the mistake has been committed inadvertently. Subhas Chandra Bose passed the Civil Service open competitive examination brilliantly in 1920, attaining the fourth place and the first in English. But he already made up his mind to offer himself for work for the national cause and resigned from the service in April 1921. His father was aggrieved and all his relations, including his brother Sarat Bose, urged him not to resign. Incidentally, Jinnah, who was then living in London, advised him to join the service as he thought that a young man like Subhas was needed in the Indian Civil Service. But Subhas was firm in his conviction that one could be loyal to the British Raj and, at the same time, serve India honestly with heart and soul. In a letter to his brother he observed "I must either chunk this rotten service and dedicate myself wholeheartedly to the country's cause or I must bid adieu to all my ideals and aspirations." In 1924, when Swaraj Party of Deshbandhu C.R. Das -- the then political mentor of Subhas Bose -- won control of the Calcutta City Corporation , C.R. Das became Mayor of Calcutta and Bose was elected as its Chief Executive Officer, exactly three years after he had resigned from the Indian Civil Service.
Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was absolutely non-communal in his outlook and Col Kayani was right in his thinking that there would not have been any need for the partition of India had Netaji been alive to return to his homeland. Besides, Netaji strongly believed that the concept of Pakistan was nothing but the product of a devil's workshop, in which case the devil was no other than the then British Government ruling over India.
S.R.Shaheed
D O H S, Banani
Dhaka

On Cover Stories
I am concerned with some of the cover stories of the past few weeks The topics chosen for your cover stories should be printed in a news magazine, whereas I feel that SWM is not a news magazine. Topics that you choose for your cover stories and the Newsnotes column should be printed in your daily newspaper and not in your magazine. As a hard core fan of SWM, I expect only interesting and important subjects as cover stories such as the ones you printed on August 20, August 27 and September 10. Maybe you should consider doing a cover story on mobile phones. I hope you will take my comments and suggestions into consideration.
Emranul Hogre
Agrabad, Chittagong


Letters to the Editor, Dhaka Diary & Write to Mita with the writer’s name and address, should be within 200 words. Articles should be within 1,200 words. Articles and photos submitted will not be returned. Plagiarised articles will not be accepted. All materials should be sent to: Star Weekend Magazine, 19, Karwan Bazar, Dhaka-1215, Fax: 8125155, or e-mailed to <[email protected]> Articles may be edited for reasons of space and clarity.
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