MAILBOX
Longadu burning: An affront to humanity
The article "Longadu burning", published in Star Weekend, demonstrates the institutional failure to ensure the right of our fellow citizens to live in safety. We all strongly condemn the arson attacks by the Bangalee settlers in three villages of Rangamati's Longadu upazila that has turned thousands of indigenous people homeless.
In recent years, Bangladesh has recurrently been in international headlines for violent attacks against minority communities across the country. According to a report by Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council, published in January this year, there were at least 1471 incidents of violence against different minority groups in 2016, a five-fold surge from 262 cases in 2015. The aim of such heinous attacks, in most cases, appears to be in order to grab land and other property.
The recent incidents of Longadu have once again highlighted how vulnerable minority communities are to attacks. This is a human rights issue. Lack of transparency and accountability of the state machinery makes the situation worse. Inevitably, minorities will disappear from the country one day if such a situation continues. Civil society actors need to play an important role in this respect to help resolve the crisis.
Md Khalid Hasan
University of Dhaka
When logic takes a backseat
The article published last week addresses an important issue about the Bangladesh cricket team. From 2015 onwards, our team's performance has improved immensely under the captaincy of Mashrafe Mortaza and some new talents such as Mustafizur Rahman who have proved very deadly. In Bangladesh, everyone loves cricket so we have a strong fan base. We had some momentous wins which left strong teams stunned. But whenever our national team loses a match with any side we post acerbic outbursts on social media. Before making such judgements, most of us do not stop to think about how the players have to adapt to new conditions within such a short span of time. Our national cricket team is our pride – it is representing Bangladesh at the international level and so far, it has succeeded. So, from next time, we as fans or reporters should logically judge the results before making emotional outbursts on every public platform.
Rafid Alam
Mohammadpur, Dhaka
Silenced bystanders
Silence cannot be the answer to child sexual abuse. Parents should make the first move for the safety of their child from the abusers. The teachers of educational institutions may come forward in helping the child for justice if they get support from the family of the sexually abused child. In addition, parents should not follow the norms of silence but raise their voice against the abusers. They should be more concerned about their child and informed about their caregivers on whom they bestow the responsibilities of their child during working hours. Incidents of child sexual abuse are increasing both in urban and rural areas. The article "Silenced bystanders" published last week in Star Weekend emphasised that kinship with the perpetrator should not be a barrier to justice for children who have been sexually abused. The criminal should be punished though the kinship may make it difficult for the family to expose the situation publicly.
Joshinta Areng
Arambagh, Dhaka
Comments