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| Volume 10 |Issue 26 | July 08, 2011 | |
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Letters In a Weary City First of all I would like to thank The Star and also the writer of the article 'Public Interest Trashed' as it has brought out the problems and sufferings of Dhaka city and its dwellers. From the article we can infer the alarming future of this city. Bangladesh, a 56,977 square miles country, is dealing with a serious case of overpopulation. This ever-increasing population has ruined our chances of a better future. We have all been deprived of basic needs which we have a right to as citizens of this country. Regretfully, the leaders of our country are not paying enough heed to the obvious suffering of the public. One of the main problems lies in the public transportation system where the number of vehicle is relatively less and the roads are clogged with privately owned vehicles. The government should place a limit the number of cars can be privately owned by a single family, as a way to reduce traffic congestion. One can identify Dhaka as the most populated city of Bangladesh. Dhaka should be decentralised by the government and other big cities such as Chittagong and Rajshahi should share the burden of the population. My humble request to RAJUK as well as to the government is that, they take effective steps to solve these problems before it is too late. Mahmudul Hasan Hemal
A Sad Sight I came across a very sad sight the other day. A weaver bird, having found no place to build it's nest, was forced by the circumstances to weave it's home in the unfamiliar, grey and gloomy shade of a building. A fearful lack of space isn't just being suffered by our wildlife, but also by the children of our society. Nowadays when we look out through our windows, the first thing we lay our eyes on is the prison-like, hard concrete wall of the neighbouring buildings. With all the available land being dominated by new houses, restaurants and shopping malls, children have nowhere to go to feed their imagination with out-door games. They are stuck within the four lonely walls of their rooms and forced to suppress their creativity. The only things available to them as entertainment are detrimental to their health, such as video games, computer games, hours of inappropriate television and blasting music on MP3 players. In addition to the waning eyesight and fading physical strength these forms of 'entertainment' also often get these youngsters into trouble. I don't need to retell the incidents, which have occurred due to websites like Facebook. Being a seventh grade student, there are countless times I feel suffocated by the lack of open space around me. The society really needs to think about their present and future generations. Or else, a day will come when all their creativity and imagination will die out. Zarin Tasneem Ahmed Where is Mita? I have been an avid reader of the Write to Mita column for years. I have written to her about several personal matters and found her advice to be very helpful, I have even recommended this column to many of my friends and acquaintances and they have found Mita's advice to be very useful. I understand that it is not easy to solve problems just by reading a one-sided, short letter, but in my opinion she does her best and to expect her to get to the root of any problem just by reading a few lines is ridiculous. For the past month or more, however, I have noticed that your magazine has stopped printing this column. I have written to Mita a few times during the last month and am extremely distressed that there has been no reply. Many people I know are huge fans of this column as well and they are as displeased as I am at your inconsistency in printing her replies. We all want to know what has happened to Mita. Have you decided to discontinue her column? If so, why? I would like to request the Editor of The Star to please reply to this letter with an explanation. Maheen Rahman Chintito left me I have been a great fan of Chintito from the time I started to read The Star. His way of presenting the current topics, mixed with criticism and humor made it very interesting to read. However, his article, "LEAVING IT FOR TOO LATE" published on the 1st of July 2011, shocked me to a great extent. The reason being that this piece of writing is a copied and a little modified version of something which is being circulated on Facebook and other websites since almost half a year or so. It really grieved me that Chintito has published a copied article, at least he could have given credit to the original author. Sad but true, I have lost all my respect for him. The Star should check the authenticity of the articles before publishing them. Nabila Editor's Note: Please note that Chintito never claimed that the article was his and this is very obvious from the very first line. Readers who are familiar with Chintito know that he often quotes from other sources to make a point. In this particular case he posted the article to send a message across. There is no question of Chintito copying from anyone.
I was pleasantly surprised to see a story on Sufia Kamal. Of course we all know about her and have heard about her commitment to the betterment of ordinary people's lives but there were many details in the story that were really very new to me. I was very inspired by her ideas in the reprinted interview of her. Also I was so impressed that she actually asked her daughter, who in her own right is a very accomplished woman, not to join an organisation she had founded so that no one would give her undue favour. Obviously she was repulsed by nepotism that is so obvious in every sphere of our lives especially politics. I wish there were more Sufia Kamals in our society today to speak for justice, honestly yet with the utmost grace and dignity. Alaina Morshed Submission Guideline: Letters to the Editor, Star 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 The Star welcomes unsolicited articles and photographs, it cannot accept the responsibility of their loss or damage. The Star does not return unsolicited articles and photos. Response time for unsolicited write-ups ranges from three weeks to two months. All articles submitted are subject to editing for reasons of space and clarity.
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