Star Diary
Photo: Zahedul I Khan
No Respect for the Elderly
I was going to my college from Azimpur in a Gulshan bound bus, which was soon filled to the brim with passengers. Some women got on the bus at one of the stops even though the bus conductor warned them that there were no reserved seats for women left. I noticed that it was difficult for them to remain standing in the midst of the growing crowd. I thought for a while and then getting up from my seat, I called an elderly woman who was standing to take my place. But when I looked back, I was dumbfounded to find that a healthy looking young man was sitting on the seat I had just vacated. The most disappointing fact was that the man knew that I didn't leave my seat for him. I tried to make him understand that he should leave the seat for the elderly woman but he pretended as if he had done nothing wrong and paid no heed to my request. Some passengers standing by me were also shocked by the man's attitude. He looked healthy and educated but his behaviour proved that he did not have any respect for the elderly. He should have given thought to the fact that he too would get old some day. How would he feel if at an old age he had to keep standing in a bus just because a healthy, young man considered his own comfort to be more valuable than the well-being of an old person?
Md Abir Hossain
Government Titumir College, Dhaka
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Harassment by the Election Commission Office
A few weeks ago, my mother went to the Election Commission office to correct a mistake made in her voter ID card. There was a requirement for an attested copy of my mother's HSC certificate for verification purposes. When my mother went to the office to submit the form, along with the attested copy of her HSC certificate, the man taking the form asked her to go to the Magistrate court to get an affidavit. In fact, they were asking everyone to do so, adding that they wouldn't take the form otherwise. However, it wasn't mentioned anywhere in the form or officially that an affidavit was required. When my mother went to meet a higher official to complain, none of them were present in their office. It is an irony as to how these offices function, as first of all the Election Commission Office made the mistake of issuing wrong ID cards. In my mother's case, for example, they had shortened the name. However, they were bent on harassing everyone instead of taking the initiative to correct their mistake. Moreover, the office is on the 7th floor and the elevator wasn't even functioning properly. One of the people standing behind us in the line told us that he had been coming here for the last seven days but the staff kept demanding for some new document every single time. The Election Commission Office doesn't even deliver the card on the date given, saying that it hasn't been printed as yet. Why should we pay for the mistakes that they made when issuing cards? Earlier, they would trouble us by asking for bribes and by not doing the work of those who refused. Now, they trouble us by asking for documents that are not even mentioned in official forms. These people definitely don't have the right to harass people by asking for unnecessary documents.
Arshi Siddiqui
Maple Leaf International School
Dhaka
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