Star Diary

Source: Photo: Star File

Enough of this Madness 

Masuda was returning home from her workplace the other day, happily oblivious of the fact that she would be charred in minutes by a petrol bomb thrown by miscreants. She breathed her last after fighting for her life for a couple of days. I did not know Masuda personally but I later came to know that she was a friend of a colleague. I also learnt that she had gotten married only three months back. She must have had so many expectations from her new life, she must have woven so many dreams with her life partner. But unfortunately the dreams were never meant to be realised. What was Masuda's fault? Why was she along with other innocent people targeted by politically backed miscreants? Who will take the responsibility of her death? It's sad that we, the people of Bangladesh, are held hostage in the hands of a handful of people who are solely concerned about power. 
Md Zonaed Emran
Janata Bank Ltd.

A Disgrace, Indeed!

A while back, my cousins and I went to Star Cineplex in Bashun-dhara City mall to watch a movie. As is the norm, the national anthem was played before the movie commenced. Naturally most of the spectators stood up from their seats out of respect for the anthem until it finished playing. However, there were a handful of people who did not bother to pay their respects by standing up while the anthem played. Several of them were talking among themselves and making comments about random people around them. Some of them were having loud, ridiculous conversations on their cell-phones. A few of them who had empty seats in front of them, propped up their feet on those, eating and taking pictures noisily. I was baffled at how disrespectful those people were. We are always complaining about how Bangladesh has failed to move forward as a nation. If we cannot respect the 'little', important things of our motherland and improve ourselves, how can we expect a positive, substantial change overall?
Fariha Hasan
Via Email