Constitutional amendments
The DS on 01 Sep 2010 contained a lot of fuel to prompt me to write this letter.
1. First the post-editorial article by Syed Badrul Ahsan where he has, in his own inimitable style, laid low the dictatorial authors of the 5th and 7th Amendments to our Constitution with cogent logic and masses of facts. I believe there have been 13 amendments to date so what happened to the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 6th, 8th and 9th to13th Amendments? What were they and how did they advance the cause of good governance? These should be detailed in simple language so that general people may understand the cause and effect of these amendments.
Over the years I have heard and read many opinions, that the 5th and 7th Amendments did all the mischief, because the 4th which no one mentions now, first kicked open the door in Bangladesh to non-democratic practices. Shouldn't these be explained rationally? Will SBA oblige, please?
2. A reader in Gulshan takes the Mayor and those responsible for road repairs/construction to task asking them to spend time in their public financed (mistakenly called Government) SUVs to see the condition of all thoroughfares in Dhaka. My question is: Why in their SUVs? Why not on a rickshaw which 50% of Dhakabashis use? If they do so, I will pay for their subsequent orthopaedic treatment!
3. Every time there is an uproar about Traffic Jams, the authorities go into reverse gear and ban RICKSHAWS on another road to appease the bigger and lesser gods, who park and ply (often empty) with impunity on the scarce and pot-holed roads, streets and lanes of Dhaka.
The latest to fall prey to this idiotic rule, is a wide road in the heart of Banani. Rickshaws were banned one morning recently and now the road is being used not for the easy access of the Gas Guzzling Monstrosities (GGMs), but for the 'rest and relaxation' of the GGMs all day. Snack shops occupy all the available nooks and crannies to cater to the swarms of drivers, students, attendants etc. Parking is allowed, neither single nor double, not triple or quadruple, but often a Guinness record quintuplet (5 abreast) parking, with Banani Society providing paid attendants to see that rickshaws do not sneak in!! Bush and Blair would be proud of the double standards practiced by traffic controllers in Dhaka. (and all to no purpose).
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