::: Star Weekend Magazine :::

Letters

Dirty Dealing

The article ‘Dirty dealing’ published on June 2, 2012 in the Star was a very important one for our young generation. The youth is the life-blood of a nation and if they are spoilt, the nation as a whole is bound to be spoilt. Drug addicts create various problems both for the society and for themselves. Their lives are completely dependent on drugs and the failure to take a regular dose often makes them completely dysfunctional.
The drug business is gaining momentum due to huge profits. A number of law enforcement agencies, military and ward commissioners are also suspected to be engaged in this trade. The recent incident related to Himadri Majumdar Himu was indeed shocking. He was brutally tortured, and ultimately fell off the roof when dogs were set on him. He later died of his injuries. Drug is a serious social problem and solutions must be found. The people and the government together should be up in arms against it.

Tapan Kanti Deb
Mohsin College, Chittagong

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Last week's cover story, 'Dirty Dealing', was an extremely brave effort taken by the Star. Drug addiction destroys the lives of many in this country every year. Personally, I blame the lack of employment and desired activities as the main reasons behind the increasing demand for drugs in this city. As the story mentions, the drug business in this part of the world is huge.
Everybody goes through depressed phases in life. We need more organisations that are willing to counsel drug addicts and rescue them. At the same time, the government needs to enforce strict laws against drug peddlers. Having said that, one can't ignore the fact that officials from monitoring agencies might be involved in such acts themselves and there lies another problem that enhances such businesses-- corruption. I hope concerned officials take this story seriously and help the hundreds of thousands of people who are addicted and need help.

Abdul Jabar Khan
Dhanmondi, Dhaka

Photo: Courtesy

Doing business ethically

From the cover story, published on 25 May 2012, it is clear that right from the very beginning of his business life, Latifur Rahman was very dedicated, committed, honest and hardworking. He has set up the highest ethical standard for business in Bangladesh. His fair stand led to him winning the Oslo Business for Peace Award this year. We are proud of him.
The fact that he gives his top most priority to his employers' wellbeing is encouraging. However, the present political scenario is a major threat to our business. Foreign investors and international business communities are in danger of leaving the country. The deteriorating political crisis, lack of enforcement of law and order, forced disappearances etc. are some of the reasons why investors are losing their confidence. The ruling party and the party in opposition should create a proper environment for bolstering our business in the international arena; and it has to be done immediately for the greater interest of the nation.

Md Musfikur Rahman Jony
Baneswar, Rajshahi

How safe are we?

The media represents a community. Having seen the recent events that have taken place, I really can't help but wonder how safe we are anymore. We are the citizens of a democratic country. We have a constitution for protecting human rights. Our basic rights are being violated in this country almost everywhere.
The law states that every citizen is equal before the judiciary and is entitled to protection. But where is our law where are our rights? The murder of the journalist couple, Sagar Sarowar and Meherun Runi, the brutal attack on bdnews journalists assault on photo journalists by the police and so on, the crimes just keep on taking place. The fact that two sub-inspectors assaulted and harassed a teenaged girl in the aria of CMM court is extremely shocking. These incidents are a disgrace to the so-called democratic nation. It's high time that the government reacts to such dreadful incidents.

Ahammed al Fattah
Jagannath University, Dhaka

Pace-less Attack

The story published under the sports column last week was well written. With the likes of Shafiul Islam, Rubel Hossain, Nazmul Hossain and Mashrafe Bin Mortuza, one could have perhaps assumed that the Bangladeshi national team has a decent pace attack. However, at the moment, almost all our pace bowlers are either injured or prone to frequent injuries. One wonders as to how our pace department will perform in the upcoming t-20 world cup in Sri Lanka.
The fact that our domestic system doesn't support pace bowling is another debacle that the Bangladeshi Cricket Board needs to look into. As the writer mentions in the article, a majority of our cricket pitches suit either spinners or slow-left arm bowlers, this needs to change. One has to understand that despite having one of the best slow-left arm bowlers in our side, we still require a consistent pacer. I hope that the young pace bowlers selected for the upcoming tournament in Sri Lanka can ably support Mashrafe Bin Mortuza.

Mohammad Rafique
Banani, Dhaka

Photo: Star file

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