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The Plight of the Indigenous People
During my time at university, one of my friends, from an indigenous community, and I used to share a dorm room. He was very well-mannered and I spent a lot of time with him, always curious to learn about his culture. He told me many stories about their tough life in the hill tracts. He used to sing indigenous songs in which I could only recognise the word 'Rangamati', which was once their capital districts before the construction of the Kaptai hydro-electric facility that engulfed a large part of the district. Seeing the snapshot of Rangamati Kaptai Lake by Pahn Chakma, published in Star Weekend Magazine on 10th March 2017, I was reminded of my friend and the songs he used to sing in honour of their glorious past. The Kaptai Lake may look tranquil, but the lives of the indigenous people are not. However, I would like to thank Pahn Chakma for this outstanding photo which took me back to the older days when I used to listen to the untold stories of the indigenous people and dreamed of rescuing them from their hardships.
Md Azam Khan
Laxmipur, Chittagong
Do You Recognise the Patriarchy?
I was grieving when I was reading the article titled 'Do you recognise the patriarchy' in the Star Weekend's issue of March 03, 2017. However, after reading this article, I felt like it is the reflection of my life, it is my own story that has been told in this article. It is the story of all the women of the world who have to constantly fight with the patriarchal system, till the very end of their lives. On the other hand, I also enjoyed the article because, through this article, the writer has effectively questioned the patriarchal construct of our society with a very strong but satirical tone.
Nasrin Akhter
Ahmednagar
Dhaka
After the Accident
The article titled "After the Accident" published last week (March 10, 2017) was quite an informative and insightful piece that focused on how we should deal with deadly road accidents. With the story of Oshim, as the article read, there comes a beam of hope as some organisations, all by themselves, have come forward to help victims of road accidents get quick first aid, and subsequently be taken to nearby hospitals, thereby, saving lives. The number of road accident fatalities published by WHO is really shocking. It is high time the government took the initiative to patronise these NGOs working for road-crash victims. A hotline especially dedicated to these victims, as most of the developed countries already have, can be one of the solutions to this ever intensifying crisis.
Samiul Raijul
North South University, Dhaka
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