Letters
A Good Role Model
I would like to thank the author of the cover story 'The Science of Saving Lives' (August 3, 2007) on such a talented Bangladeshi scientist. This woman has earned herself a strong position in a male-dominated society on her own merit. If we had more women like that it would add so much more value to the development of our society and state. Dr. Qadri is a good role model.
Our identity as human beings badly needs redefinition. We should be more liberal and realistic. I want to thank the SWM for giving us the opportunity to know her. What Dr. Qadri is doing, I hope, will be fruitful for the poor people. ICDDR,B should ensure that she has all the facilities to be successful in her research.
Jewel Rana
Faculty of Agriculture
BAU, Mymensingh
Challenges of Fighting Crime
After reading the cover story 'Challenges of Fighting Crime' (July 27, 2007) in the SWM I was reminded of an incident that happened to my father when I was just ten. One day when my father was coming back from Dhaka by train he was attacked by a group of people working in the same manner as the 'molom party'. He lost everything except his clothes. It is high time such heinous crimes were wiped away from our society.
I want to congratulate the SWM for publishing such a valuable article.
Mohammed Tarik Ali Chowdhury
Department of English
Leading University, Sylhet
Guantanamo Bay in Bangladesh
A private TV channel has been reporting on the pathetic situation of the inmates at the Pabna Government Mental Hospital which is very similar to the condition in Guantanamo Bay. Here are people who have been forced into these institutions as mentally imbalanced by relatives with an ulterior motive. Apparently the hospital authority is aware of this and they don't want to release them because they will be deprived from government and foreign donation. One of the employees there disclosed that Tk 45 is allotted for every patient's meal. But the authorities are supplying very low quality, unhygienic meals for them. There are no entertainment facilities for them and the whole place is unhygienic. Even the hospital authorities have an illegitimate understanding with various other clinics. They send patients from other clinics saying that they do not have a vacancy.
This cannot be allowed to go on in a civilised country. I urge the government on behalf of the people of the society to take immediate steps against the authorities at the Pabna Government Mental Hospital.
MD. Zelhaz Ahmed Tipu
Kuril, Badda, Dhaka
Coping with the Flood
The floodwaters have engulfed two-thirds of our country. People are being deprived from the very basic necessities of food, drinking water, shelter and medical services. It is difficult for people to understand the actual magnitude of their sufferings. Recently I saw the condition in which a particular family was living in, in Munshiganj. they have nowhere to live. The earning member of the family is bedridden with water-borne diseases. His wife is at a late stage of pregnancy. Her two-year-old child has drowned and the eldest member of the family died of cholera. They don't even know where to bury him. This is a very common scenario in the flood-affected areas. Can the relief efforts minimise their sufferings? I would like to urge all conscious people to help the flood-affected people any way they can.
Md Mosharraf Hossain
Dept of Sociology, CU
****
Floods are not a new problem in our country. But it is very unfortunate that because of improper planning we are unable to tackle the problem every year. Most of the big rivers are now about to die. They have no flow of water in the summer season. The depth of the rivers became very low and when in the rainy season a large amount of water come, the rivers cannot contain the water. It overflows and results in flood.
The huge amount of losses incurred every year is reason enough to take steps to try and control the flood. I would like to request the present government to take proper steps to control the flood; dig the rivers deep; maintain proper dredging every year; make proper embankments; dig small canals and ponds so they can contain a lot of water; in the cities make proper drainage systems; increase roadside plantation so that they can catch the soil of the side of the rivers and make flood control a social movement in Bangladesh.
If we take proper steps we can control flood and save the people of Bangladesh from further disasters.
Mohammad Sazzad Hossain
Ex Lecturer, Lauhajang College
Batia, Dohar
The Ailing Sabina
Sabina Yasmin's songs have attracted, charmed and overwhelmed the people worldwide. There are very few people in the Bangladeshi community all around the world who has not heard her songs. The people of Bangladesh who take pride in her songs are really shocked at her illness. I think the total expenses of her treatment should be borne by the government of Bangladesh as she is an asset of this country. We pray to Almighty Allah for her early recovery so that she can be amongst us again.
Md. Abdus Salam
Assistant Teacher
Joypara Pilot High School
Dohar, Dhaka
Environmental Hazard
It is a matter of sorrow that the hills under Sitakund Thana in Chittagong are being polluted and destroyed by some dishonest men. Although the government has taken some measures to preserve the beauty by forming eco parks and botanical gardens but the outside of the eco parks in Kumira hills and Fouzdarhat Hills are in the worst conditions. Consequently the possibility of earthquakes in Chittagong is increasing and experts are already alarmed by the recurrence of small earthquakes during recent years.
What is the law regarding Sitakund Thana as well as the Chittagong district? Will the caretaker government take any necessary steps to prevent these hills from getting destroyed?
Md. Ikram Uddin Sujon
Govt. City College, Chittagong
Visionary Filmmaker
Throughout his celebrated career, Ingmar Bergman approached unconventional concepts like existentialism, religion, plague and madness with inventive techniques and superior scripts. Some of his cinema's most riveting scenes, a knight playing chess with the shrouded figure of Death ("The Seventh Seal"), a nightmare-plagued artist meeting real-life demons on a lonely island ("Hour of the Wolf") , and a woman crying at her deathbed, "I am dead, but I can't leave you" ("Cries and Whispers") are products of his creative genius. Bergman, besides legends like Federico Fellini, Andrei Tarkovsky and Akira Kurosawa, popularised art films among the common people in the 60s and 70s. His intriguing and haunting peaks had unparalleled skill to drown the audience in a blanket of despair, yet mesmerising them at the same time. Bergman himself confessed in 2004, "I don't watch my own films very often. I become so jittery and ready to cry ... and miserable. I think it's awful".
We pay sincere tribute to the master filmmaker, who not only created masterpieces but also elevated filmmaking to a new dimension.
Ananya Das
A Level Student
Cephalon International
Submission Guideline:
Letters to the Editor, Dhaka Diary and Write to Mita, with the writer's name and address, should be within 200 words. All articles should be within 1,200 words. A cover letter is not necessary, but every write-up should include the writer's name, phone number and email address (if any). While SWM welcomes unsolicited articles and photographs, it cannot accept the responsibility of their loss or damage. SWM does not return unsolicited articles and photos. Response time for unsolicited write-ups range from three weeks to two months. All articles submitted are subject to editing for reasons of space and clarity.
All materials should be sent to: Star Weekend Magazine, 19 Karwan Bazar, Dhaka-1215, Fax: 880-2-8125155 or emailed to: <[email protected]>
It is recommended that those submitting work for the first time to the SWM take a look at a sample copy beforehand. Our website is: http://www.thedailystar.net/magazine
Copyright (R) thedailystar.net 2007
