MAILBOX

The Joy of Eating Well

I really appreciate the Star Weekend for its article titled 'The Joy of Eating Well' published on 14 October, 2016. It made me recall a sweet memory of mine. During last Pahela Baishakh, my friends and I were returning from an event by a rickshaw. On the way, I came across a little girl scavenging for food from a dustbin. It shocked and saddened me immensely. Stopping the rickshaw I called the girl and offered her 100 taka. However, to my surprise, she refused to take the money. When her father told her to take the money, she finally agreed. I feel very upset when I see starving children on the streets. Many of them do not beg. They work as hawkers or porters but their meagre income cannot even provide them with a meal. From the article when I learned about 'Bidyananda Foundation' and its initiative '1 taka meal', I felt proud that the youth of my country have come forward to remove this discrimination. I would like to thank Kishore, the founder of the organisation, for this praiseworthy and exemplary initiative. Like this initiative, if we can work from our own capacity to feed these under privileged children, I think it is possible to eradicate hunger from our society. 

Mridul Mitra

Department of English, Jagannath University, Dhaka 

Tragedies never to be repeated

I would like to thank Md Shahnawaz Khan Chandan for his excellent and informative article titled 'Tragedies never to be repeated' published in the Star Weekend on October 7, 2016. Reading his article I learned that most of the industrial disasters that have been occurring in our country repeatedly are not natural disasters at all. Most of these happened due to irregularities, negligence and exploitative attitude towards poor labourers. Due to available cheap labour, the factory owners often treat their workers like slaves. When I learned about the workers of Tazreen Fashions who were locked from the outside when the factory was burning, I was shocked and could not even imagine their fate. I therefore totally agree with the writer that if we do not ensure workers' rights and safety, our garment products will lose their acceptability in the international market.

Enam Hasan

Madaninagar, Narayanganj

Not another Hashtag

I was very shocked to see the news of the 23-year-old college girl Khadiza Begum Nargis being brutally hacked by Badrul Alam with a machete on the campus of MC College in Sylhet in broad daylight. I could not believe how such brutality took place. The repeated incidents of violence against women reveal the alarming disorderly situation in our society. Deterioration of law enforcement has spread such fear and confusion amongst people that they feel unsafe to save a woman even if she is being killed in front of them by a psychotic criminal. We demand exemplary punishment for Badrul Alam and this is the only way to save our society from utter destruction of its moral foundation. 

Masum Khan

Halishahar, Chittagong

The opinions expressed in these letters do not necessarily represent the views of the Star Weekend.