MAILBOX

Breaking New Ground
I felt very encouraged to read this article about upcoming Bangladeshi writers writing in English. Bangladesh has such a rich literary tradition and yet the world knows nothing about it. The reason for this is that most poets and writers in the country write in Bangla. While we are immensely proud of them, we also need to produce writers who can write in English. Writing in English does not mean neglecting Bangla. It is time that our country produced poets and writers who are capable of writing in a language that has become the most common literary language of the day.
Maliha Khatun
Banani, Dhaka

Photo: Prabir Das

Protest at Hay Festival, Dhaka, 2013
At the entrance to the Hay Festival at Bangla Academy, I saw some protesters distributing leaflets protesting the 'invasion' of English language into Bangla Academy and asking people to boycott the festival. Although I respect their right to express their opinions, I must confess that I was a bit disturbed by their demand. There is no denying that English has over the years become a sine qua non of development and communication. In this age of globalization, Bangladesh cannot sit idle and watch her neighbouring countries flash major literary muscles in the form of English literature. We are proud of our language movement and our history of resistance against those who tried to take our language away from us. But that does not mean that we should not learn English and write in English.
Akhlakur Rahamn Liton
Dhanmondi, Dhaka

Stick a Babel Fish
Bangla has one of the richest bodies of literature in the world and it is sad that few outsiders are aware of it. The reason behind that is almost none of our major literary works has been translated into English. For example, we have had world class literary minds in Hasan Azizul Haq, jyoti Prakash Dutta, Akteruzzaman Elyas, Shamsur Rahman and so on but few translations of their works are available. Bangladesh needs a pool of skilled translators who are well versed in Bangla and contemporary Anglo-American literature.
Adnan Shafi
DOHS, Dhaka

Photo: Prabir Das

When Revolution Takes Precedence
I feel sad when I look at what happened in Egypt and most other Arab countries where Arab Spring promised an era of change. What followed is far from the dream of the common men and women in these countries. In Egypt, people demanded the fall of the Mubarak regime and after months of violent protests Mubarak was gone. Then came the Muslim Brotherhood who despite their claim to be 'closer to God' and the custodian of morality, turned out to be as corrupt as the previous regime. Ahdaf Soueif, the Egyptian born writer is deeply concerned about the state of affairs in Egypt and other Arab countries. She is one of those writers who do not shy away from telling the truth. I really enjoyed this well written article about this committed writer who has always spoken against injustice and tyranny.
Saiful Alam Khokon
Baridhara, Dhaka

Hay Days
While some of my friends thought that the Star overdid it by dedicating an entire issue to the Hay Festival, I want to appreciate the Star for doing just that. Here was a festival where leading poets, writers and thinkers from all over the world gathered to share their views on the times we live in and the events that shape our lives. Let's accept it—Dhaka is hardly at the centre of free thinking in the world. The Hay made possible for the Bangladeshi people to ask these distinguish guests questions and learn from them. I think the Star did an excellent job of covering the event.
Aparna Chowdhury
Dhanmondi, Dhaka

Unfolding the Spiritual Path
I was fortunate to be able to attend the session tilled The Mystical Soul at the recently held Hay Festival at the Bangla Academy. David Burrell, one of the panelists said that we should embrace suffering to truly discover ourselves. It sounds simple enough but deserves our attention and understanding. Many in the East believe that suffering is necessary to find meaning in life. I think that is wrong. I think that the truth about suffering is that finding a meaning in life is possible even in spite of suffering. Life's meaning is an unconditional one, because it includes the potential meaning of unavoidable suffering.
Fazle Munim
Via Email

The Dying Secularism
Last week's 'Periscope' had a subtle remark about a vital change in our society. Bangladesh started its journey as a secular nation. But day by day, religion is becoming a crucial power in politics. Even 'secular' parties like AL are trying to prove they are no less 'religious' than others. People are leaning towards religious extremism because they are provided with nothing better to follow. It won't be long before secularism becomes a forgotten concept in this soil. The blame game the political parties play won't save the day.

Amio Galib Chowdhury.
Department of Physics,
Dhaka University