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
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