MAILBOX

A Golden Opportunity
We all can help in the revival of jute products. While shopping we should refuse to accept plastic bags. The government should try to enforce the Mandatory Packaging Act, 2010. Small industries that are capable of producing handicrafts from jute must be encouraged and established. I hope the government will pay attention to the issues raised in this well researched article and immediately implement the recommendations.
Aminul Islam
Uttara, Dhaka

A Missed Opportunity
I read the cover story titled A Golden Opportunity thoroughly and avidly. It is a timely feature.  I was, however, confused by the opening two lines of the article that says “Jute has made an impressive comeback. Now it needs government support to restore its golden past.” We all know the jute industry is dying or already dead. That's nothing new. Now, if it has made an impressive comeback, that's news! I would be interested to know all about it. The article talks about a lot of problems and an overly simplified solution (The enactment of the Mandatory Packaging Act, 2010.). But it does not explain how Jute has made a comeback.
Mohammad Zamil
Uttara, Dhaka

Photo: Prabir Das

Coming out
I want to congratulate the writer for such a brave article.  I admire her for narrating her horrible experiences so lucidly. This catharsis was necessary. She would not have suffered all her life if she came out with it as soon as it happened. This is a lesson for all who suffer sexual abuse in their childhood. Parents should teach their children to report any incident where anybody touches them inappropriately or does anything which he or she does not like. They should know that it is not their fault. It is the perverts who have to be exposed and dealt with before they go too far.
Shahjahan Hafiz
Gulshan, Dhaka.

The Colour of My Skin
I was very pleased to read the article in which the writer applauds (as one should) Nandita Das's campaign "Dark is Beautiful”. This provides a much needed counter narrative to the racist and idiotic campaign launched and promoted by a top company with endless resources. Young women constitute the worst victims of the insidious 'Fair and Lovely' campaign. In much the same way the bleaching products to whiten skin being used by young black women 'who wanted to be white' were banned in Europe and America decades ago, we should demand a proper investigation into the physical and psycho-social effects of F&L to determine whether it too should be relegated to the cosmetic dustbin of history.
Kumar Murshid
BRAC University, Dhaka

Bangladeshi Passengers
I am a cabin crew of Biman Bangladesh airlines, and I enjoyed the article called "Five Tell-Tale Signs that You are a Bangladeshi passenger" published on October 31, 2014. Being a cabin crew of Biman Bangladesh Airlines myself, I find some passengers doing hilarious (and sometimes annoying) activities on the aircraft, especially Bangladeshis returning from the Middle East. I would like to mention some of these: brushing teeth while walking on the isle, stuffing loads of cosmetics into briefcases until it bursts (and later tying it with rope), asking if the plane is stuck in mid-air, forming an endless queue for going to the washroom, taking pictures of the female crew secretly, playing loud music through speakers, etc, and one thing they are most skilled at: standing up and looking around for absolutely no reason.
Enayet ullah Helal
On Email

Photo: Anurup Kanti Das

 A Tale of Two Peoples
This has reference to the above mentioned article on August 22, 2014. I thought you might be fascinated to read the words of an ancestor of mine who was appointed as the first 'Superintendent of Hill Tribes' in CHT in 1866. His words are:
“The wily Bengali muktears, or attorneys, were the bane of the Hill Tracts, and I never relaxed in my efforts to banish them from the country. Soon after the fair, I had the pleasure of finding a good cause for shipping the last three of them out of my district. As a matter of course they petitioned against me, both to the Commissioner and afterwards to the Government; and in the report I was called on to make in consequence, I did not spare them. I pointed out how they lived on the ignorance and weakness of the hill folk, stirring up strife and fomenting litigation; how they strove to weaken the authority of the Government by inciting to appeals against my orders, merely on grounds of legal quibbles and misrepresentations.”
In those days, the Mahajans or money-lenders also took advantage of indigenous people and charged 5 percent a month interest. My ancestor managed to get the Government to approve the following rules:
 “No middle-man or attorney to be allowed to act in hill cases  No stamps (judicial) to be required in certain cases, thus reducing the price of justice (i.e. costs) to a minimum The legal interest recoverable on debt not to exceed 12 percent per annum, and a limit of time to be set, beyond which no debt could be recovered.”
I doubt if these rules exist anymore!
Julian Francis
On Email

The Minister's Helicopter
I thank the Star for this hilarious piece which truly captures the lack of accountability of some politicians who think that the entire country is their inherited property.
Irhum Shafkat
On Email