Star diary

UNCIVILISED ON SOCIAL MEDIA

I was explaining to my brother, who is in class 7, how people can express their feelings freely on social media like Facebook. As I wanted to provide some examples, I logged into my Facebook account to show him the page of one of the most popular national dailies of the country. I read a political news item on the page, and tried to show my brother how the comments prove the users' freedom to expression. I was shocked to see that many people commenting on the news used terribly obscene language. I had to close the page immediately lest my brother be influenced by this kind of language. Everyone should have the freedom to express their views. But at the same time, we should keep in mind that our comments reach a wide ranging group of people. If comments portray the character of an individual, I have to say that seeing our comments on social media, we are a most uncivilised nation. We are more interested in hurling insults at each other instead of participating in constructive criticism. It's high time to change this attitude.
Moynul Islam
Dinajpur Government College
Dinajpur

Shishir Bhattacharjee, Untitled, acrylic on canvas, 2012.

Man or Animal?

On my way to class on a rickshaw, the rickshaw puller I had hired tried to overtake the one in front as he found ample space to move forward. A biker, on the other hand, was trying to overtake the other rickshaw without even signalling that he wanted to move forward. The other rickshaw puller only looked on in surprise but decided to move on. However, the biker braked and walked towards the rickshaw puller. The gentleman started arguing and threatening the rickshaw puller. As I was getting late, I politely asked the man to free the space and let us go. He then turned to me, saying, “Chino (Do you know who I am)? I work with a human rights organisation. Be careful.” Instead of arguing or fighting with him, I restrained myself, as I thought that a fight would only lead to traffic congestion on one of the busiest roads of the city. I did recall something I had read in an article in the Star: “The animal instinct in human reigns supreme where rationality ends. The animal instinct in human beings is wilder than animals.”
Masud Parvez
Keranigonj
Dhaka