Renaming ZIA
Photo: Tanvir Ahmed / Driknews
We the undersigned, active participants of an on-line Bangladesh Aviation related discussion forum, write to express our disgust at the recent government decision to rename Dhaka's Zia International Airport. We feel that this shows little more than pettiness by the present government. What will happen when the current opposition, whose founder the airport is named after comes back to the treasury benches? This obsession and priority of naming and renaming national institutions and landmarks by the two main political parties in Bangladesh goes to show their indifference to meaningful development work. The net effect of this game of musical chairs is it makes the whole of Bangladesh look silly in the eyes of the world. What's next? Will the security X-ray machines at the airport be named after people too? We would like to know the logic behind naming an airport in Dhaka after a great saint from Sylhet. The state operated airline, Biman, already carries the names of our famous saints around the world on their aircrafts. As far as stake holding international organisations such as the International Air Transport Authority (IATA), the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as well as the airlines that operate out of this airport are concerned, the gateway continues to be identified as DAC or VGZR. So, all the hoopla and of course expenses will be on the poor taxpayers for making up new signage, letterheads, rubber stamps, etc. Frankly, some of us are sick of this petty politics. By changing the name, the prime minister is perhaps taking all the votes for granted. Majority of the people of Bangladesh did not give her a mandate to prioritise pettiness. We urge the newspapers in Bangladesh to conduct an online poll and see how other people feel about this game of naming and renaming.
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