Letters
On the Road to Closure
I would like to start by thanking our government for introducing the judgment of war crimes. War criminals' judgment was an election pledge of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who returned to power in January 2009. It is obviously a long issue that will have to face strong debate. Despite that, I strongly believe that the government will be able to give us an impartial judgment on war crimes. Five Jamaat's leaders have already been arrested, as war criminals and I believe this is a good start. So as far as we know war criminals are not only members of Jamaat but also BNP, BJP, AL etc. To sustain neutrality of war criminals' judgment, government must look into all political parties.
I have faith that the government will sustain impartiality in the judgment of war crimes and I hope I will not be disappointed.
Mohammed Jamal Uddin
International Islamic University
Chittagong
Education and Great Expectations
I really appreciate the thought behind the article Education and Great Expectations in The Star dated 30 July.
Another important but often unnoticed part of the whole situation is the teacher-parent role. Every time I meet my child's teacher I come back home with a feeling that I am not a good mother. It is the most painful feeling a mother can have. I get to hear a rude tone saying 'apnara to anek byasto! bachchakey ektu shomoy diben!' (You people are very busy! Do make time for your child). They may have good reasons to say this, but such a generalized comment is not acceptable to all, I must say.
No one is aware of the pressure the parents get from the school. Because you do not share it with anyone fearing to get labeled as a parent-busy-with- his/her- own- career when the truth is, despite having a very busy 'corporate schedule' you make time to help your children with their homework and probably are happy with their grades. Unfortunately, the teachers have zero tolerance for small mistakes even in junior classes, which not only terrorises children but also increases absenteeism. As a result of all this, we unknowingly react to the situation by putting undue pressure on our children to earn nothing but full marks. In other words s/he has to make 'good results' to prove the world that we are good parents
.
Though I fully agree with the writer's point of view, in reality when I face the allegation, which questions my love and care for my child, I feel helpless. I find myself at a crossroads. Should I allow my child to have a normal 'childhood' or should I work harder to meet the teachers' standards to be a 'good parent'.
N B Mansoor
Gulshan, Dhaka
Agar: A golden Tree
Aquilaria Agallocha(family name Thymelaeaceae), locally known as agar is a moderately tall and erect ever green tree. At present 50-60 families in Sylhet and Moulvibazar district are engaged in agar processing. Agar oil which is made from agar wood used as a raw material for cosmetics, perfume, and soup etc . There is a massive demand for agar oil all over the world. People in this area usually sell the agar oil to abroad. The processing of collecting oil is something like critical and used their old method to bring out the oil from agar wood. As we know that France is very renowned in perfume sector, there raw material also collecting from agar wood. Here agar in Bangladesh could be a great source for perfume raw material but apologetic matter is that there is no potentially initiative to commercialise this hidden treasure. After surveying there I have come to know that it is very possible to plant this precious tree in other districts also. Since the worth of agar and the availability agar wood in Sylhet we should take initiative to launch a new venture based on agar.
Jony khan
Shahjalal University of Science and Technology
Sylhet
Retrieve the Beauty of Metropolis
Dhaka, the metropolis of Bangladesh, which has 400 years of glorious history of providing its residents with first class citizen facilities, is now struggling to ensure greenery and a healthy environment rather than facilities. This problem is mainly caused by its vast population. Due to extreme centralisation of public and private infrastructure people think it better to live in here at any cost. Huge population of this city has given it the dubious distinction of being a mega city! Taking the privilege of dummy law enforcing authority, land encroachers have made the city haphazard. City dwellers are now habituated to traffic problems, load shedding, water and power shortage, congested locality, water logging so on and so forth. Land developers are encroaching the government land unlawfully, to expand their housing and commercial projects. All these dilemmas break the overall standard of the infrastructure of the city. City planners have been urging the government from the early 90's to create a comprehensive policy to make the city livable again, but all efforts have been fruitless. I would like to request the government earnestly to implement the recently authorised DAP(Detailed Area Plan) a city master plan strictly, by removing all bureaucratic obstacles in order to make Dhaka as better living place again and retrieve its beauty.
Muhammad Anisul Islam
Department of Finance
University of Dhaka
Bangladesh Cricket
Bangladesh has obtained permission to line up the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 Inauguration match and 5 other matches. However, BCB and spectators are hovering in happiness. But, the Bangladesh Cricket Team is not strong enough to perform well against their group in the world cup starting Feb. 2011. Bangladesh has been defeated by Ireland and Netherlands who have no test status. After winning the ICC trophy, they have achieved nothing except making it to the second round in the world cup in 2007. Bangladesh will be up against strong countries like South Africa, England, and West Indies, India in the upcoming World Cup. How will Bangladesh cope? We cannot expect much if their performance worsens every day. We can remember David White Moor, former Bangladesh coach who guided them the best and made sure they did well. Player selection should be based strictly on merit. For this, I am requesting the BCB to take the necessary steps to ensure good performance.
Al Hossain
Govt Bangla College, Dhaka
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