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    Volume 9 Issue 30| July 23, 2010|

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Letters

Student Politics: The Balance Sheet
The gangrenous effect of student politics is apparent in our educational arena. We have seen the devastating destruction unleashed by Chhatra League, Chhatra Dal, Shibir and I think, this ferocity is increasing day by day. The bloody inter-party and intra-party clashes make us frozen and wordless.
The best and most meritorious students are given the chance for university admission after incredibly competitive written and oral tests. It is hard to accept when a brilliant student beats another with bamboo sticks, iron rods, or machetes and throws the dead body from third or fourth floor on to the ground or into a stinking manhole after ensuring death. Moreover, student leaders and activists are taking part in tender manipulation, occupying residential halls and controlling admission 'trade'.
When we live in a parliamentary democracy, there should be no need for political parties to rely on muscle power or for the issues of the day to be fought out on university campuses. Of course, student cadres are like nuclear weapons. The other side has theirs, so you have to have yours. That is why simultaneous disarmament of all student front organisations is the only solution.
It is also true that student politics is only one piece of the greater problem of violence that is committed by political party cadres. But cleaning up the campuses is a good place to start. Turning our colleges and universities into politics-free zones is something which would be very popular with the public and would do more to benefit higher education in Bangladesh than any other measure.
There is no reason why we cannot make public colleges and universities safe for ordinary students and ban any political activity or organisation on campus. Student politics is banned in private universities, without any ill-effects that I have noticed.
It is a national disgrace that we have allowed so-called student politics to completely destroy the fabric of public education in this country. When will our political leaders wake up to the fact that student politics is a net loss for the country?
Abul Hossain Zia
EEE, BUET

Student Politics: The Balance Sheet

The gangrenous effect of student politics is apparent in our educational arena. We have seen the devastating destruction unleashed by Chhatra League, Chhatra Dal, Shibir and I think, this ferocity is increasing day by day. The bloody inter-party and intra-party clashes make us frozen and wordless.
The best and most meritorious students are given the chance for university admission after incredibly competitive written and oral tests. It is hard to accept when a brilliant student beats another with bamboo sticks, iron rods, or machetes and throws the dead body from third or fourth floor on to the ground or into a stinking manhole after ensuring death. Moreover, student leaders and activists are taking part in tender manipulation, occupying residential halls and controlling admission 'trade'.
When we live in a parliamentary democracy, there should be no need for political parties to rely on muscle power or for the issues of the day to be fought out on university campuses. Of course, student cadres are like nuclear weapons. The other side has theirs, so you have to have yours. That is why simultaneous disarmament of all student front organisations is the only solution.
It is also true that student politics is only one piece of the greater problem of violence that is committed by political party cadres. But cleaning up the campuses is a good place to start. Turning our colleges and universities into politics-free zones is something which would be very popular with the public and would do more to benefit higher education in Bangladesh than any other measure.
There is no reason why we cannot make public colleges and universities safe for ordinary students and ban any political activity or organisation on campus. Student politics is banned in private universities, without any ill-effects that I have noticed.
It is a national disgrace that we have allowed so-called student politics to completely destroy the fabric of public education in this country. When will our political leaders wake up to the fact that student politics is a net loss for the country?
Abul Hossain Zia
EEE, BUET

Football's Good!
This is to comment on the “Chintito” column published in 'the STAR' on July 9, 2010. The writer suggests that our cricket is to Italy what their football is to us. I would however like to point out that the game of football has always been popular with the people of Bangladesh. Crowds would throng the stadiums to watch football matches and we recall that a Mohammedan vs. Abahoni match would draw a crowd like anything. Of course the popularity of football has been somewhat eclipsed by the rise of cricket, but it rightfully resurrects itself with each one of the FIFA mega events.
I would agree with the writer that the football World Cup does see some undue clashes and rivalry among the fans. However, while we all know that excess of anything cannot be good, a general swipe at all the football fans for the acts of a small minority is not really justified.
There is no denying the fact that we are one emotional nation. After all, amid the load-shedding, price hikes and all other stresses that life brings, who would deny us a smile and the little droplets of joy that surround us after our favourite team wins the match?
And as far as the waving flags of different nationalities are concerned, that would be better viewed as just a gesture of support to the teams we would like to see winning the matches. Although according to some, it does not live up to the strict moral standards, the heart is in the right place and never do we mean to demean our national sovereignty. And if Bangladesh ever makes it to the World Cup finals, we bet the writer would see it all red and green as far as the eyes can traverse.
Tasnim Jara
Viqarunnisa Noon College
Dhaka

Physician Heal Thyself
The Musings piece “Physician Heal Thyself” (July 9) saddened me. I had a similar experience with my own parents most probably in the same hospital. These so-called private hospitals lack good consultants. Often the junior doctors on duty are not efficient enough. But the private hospitals certainly are efficient at hitting the customer with a fat bill at the end of the stay. Admittedly, the conditions at government hospitals are appalling. While it is true that the private sector involvement in healthcare gives patients an added option, why shouldn't the patient get proper service? The healthcare sector must not fall prey to naked profiteering.
Dr Qazi Islam
New York

Build Overpasses to Cut Congestion

Dhaka, one of the most densely populated cities in the world, lacks a proper mass transit facility for its dwellers. The existing 7%-8% road space is not sufficient for the 15 million people of Dhaka. Even this small amount of road surface can't be used properly because of more than 150 junctions on the roads. When cars of one side are crossing the intersection, the cars on the other side sit idly - a fact that is responsible for the gridlock. During the peak hours, the congestion is worsened by the erratic signaling system. There are more than 125 traffic signal points in the city for car crossings and 27 for rail. If at least 30sec-60sec are required for every signal then how much time is lost sitting in traffic?
The signal can be replaced by constructing vehicle overpasses at the crossroads to eliminate loss of time. In this system the cars from four directions can run simultaneously -- cars from opposite directions cross on the overpass parallel to each other. The non-stop service speeds up the vehicles and saves valuable time. For example, if an overpass is constructed at Panthopath-Sonargaon and another at Banglamotor then the cars on the Farmgate-Shahbag road can run free of congestion. A single sided overpass at Khamarbari-Farmgate frees up the cars of Mirpur-Shahbag as well as Shahbag-Airport. To properly use our small road surface area, vehicle overpasses will be extremely helpful. They will reduce traffic congestions, vehicle collisions and the wastage of time.
Jewel Sarkar
Department of Applied Physics
University of Dhaka

Corrigendum
In last week's cover story, “Inside the Labyrinth of Books”, the name of Muktadhara's Director was misspelled. The correct spelling is Jahar Lal Saha. Also in the story, Chittaranjan Saha was inadvertently mentioned as Jahar Lal Saha's father; he was, in fact, his brother-in-law. We sincerely regret the error.


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