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     Volume 5 Issue 85 | March 10, 2006 |


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Letters

The location of Bela Sheshe
I was very interested to learn about Bela Sheshe, a safe home for elderly people. My current position is very similar to Nurunnahar. I am also a retired teacher and live with one of my daughters in Malibagh. My daughter is a very busy person and is unable to spend much time with me and I am passing a very lonely life. I wonder if it's possible for you to give the address of the organisation, Bela Sheshe. I am sure many others like me will want to know more about the place.
Farida Rahman
Malibagh

The address of Bela Sheshe:
Hs 25, Rd 4, Rupnagar R/A (Shialbari)
Mirpur 2
Dhaka 1216
Phone 0189281057

Collapse of the building
The collapse of the four-storied Phoenix building at Tejgaon on February 25th was really very shocking news.
From the news report it has been seen that the doomed building had a foundation for three storeys. But the owners went for vertical expansion. The surprising fact is that it was renovated for starting a hospital.
One of my friends from India sent me a mail asking me whether my country had any authority to think about the disaster caused by this accident? It was an embarrassing question for me and I was in a fix about what to answer. Again most of the buildings in Old Dhaka are in such a condition that most of them will collapse even if a small earthquake takes place. For an earthquake that measures 7 on the Richter scale intensity the direct losses will amount to USD 865 million. Again the loss of life will be immense. We want no more loss of lives. So I request the concerned authorities to take the necessary steps.
Shirin Sharmin Bubly
Dept. of Civil Engineering
BUET

Metropolitan Nuisance
Among other things in the city of Dhaka, one will find beggars knocking at the car windows in every traffic signal points asking for alms while the red signal is on. Besides, booksellers, fruit vendors, household hawkers and others disturb the commuters in the cars and in all sorts of transports which also causes further traffic jam. This picture is not at all seen in any other big cities of other countries. The scenario can be termed as a public nuisance. The present government is determined to beautify Dhaka City as one of its election commitments. The image of the country in the eye of the foreigners is highly affected with these street irritations. All this nuisance should be stopped by the law enforcers which would also help reduce traffic jam.
Dr. S.M. Rahman
Gulshan 2
Dhaka

Congratulations to the Tigers
Hearty congratulations to the Bangladeshi national cricket team for their tremendous victory against Sri Lanka in the second one day international in Bogra. The national cricket team's performance really made us overjoyed and did the Bengal tigers proud.
As we the citizens of the country are suffering from many kinds of evils like corruption, crimes of the society, rise in fundamentalism, high price of daily necessities, diesel and fertiliser crisis etc, this victory puts us at peace and gives a breath of fresh air to our daily lives. The two main political parties of the country should take lesson from this victory. The cricket team's victory was not a magic trick, it was the outcome of combined team spirit. If the political leaders of different parties could work uniformly and practice politics, then we will be victorious in many of the national issues. Thanks to Bashar's team for doing a great job.
Mortazul Hoq Pappu
Department of Chemistry
Chittagong University

Incorrect view of women's rights
This is to draw attention to last week's letter written by Eishan of Chuadanga Government College that simply reflected his wrong opinion concerning rights and equal freedom for women. It is completely wrong to think that freedom and rights are limited to getting scholarships and being offered vacant seats in local transportation. What Eishan does not see is that the government is actually improving the system by allowing the female population to cope up with the much more favoured male population. In our country education for women is not considered as vital but in fact it is! And the fact that seats are vacant for women is completely true and acceptable. Being a male I believe it is the least we can do for a lady. Anyway freedom for women is not fair in the sense that any male person in the society can roam around freely whereas women can't. Now as a citizen, I believe that "extra benefits" will not be a problem in the long run, because it is not practised in our country and if continued, the perception of women getting equal rights shall forever remain fiction.
Azmi Syed,
Mohammadpur

The elderly among us
It's gratifying to know that concepts of old people's home are catching on. I used to be horrified when I initially learnt of these institutions years ago and thought of these as more of an alien concept in our more family-oriented culture. But reality is brutal. So far away from home, I call my mother every week and sometimes chat on-line with a web cam. But that's all I can do. I do find some comfort that my brothers are there with three pairs of grandkids to give her company. I also have friends here whose parents live on their own. For all of us fear and anxiety are constant companions. Every time the phone rings at the odd hour, we go through panic attacks.
But what about those parents to whom death would be more welcome than living in the daily indignities that they are meted out by ungrateful offsprings or their equally unappreciative spouses? No longer seen as useful or needed, they are merely tolerated for the rest of their existing years. Yet we forget that frail and helpless, they have come full circle to the same helpless conditions as when they had first started out in this world. The same way that we ourselves did. And very soon we will find ourselves to be in.
Rebecca Sultana.
Toronto
Canada

Alas! 21st February!
February 21st is the most significant day in the life of a Bangali national. On this day in 1952 Salam, Barkat, Rafik and Jabbar laid down their lives to establish Bangla as the mother tongue of our country. Now it is celebrated throughout the world as it has been declared as International Mother Language Day. But what respect are some of us paying to this day?
The other day I was going to my cousin's house and I saw some local boys decorating the Shahid Minar, the symbol of our mother language, while listening to Hindi songs! They were paying homage to the martyrs of Bangla language while listening to Hindi songs! Is that the sign of patriotism? They could hear our national songs like "Amar sonar Bangla" or "Salam salam". Now my question is if we observe 21st February listening to Hindi songs, what will the next generation do?
Asif Ahmed


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