How the Story Ends
The article published in the "Spotlight" section of Star Weekend (dated March 17, 2017) was a very insightful write-up that showed us how the women of our country are being tortured by the perpetrators. Violence against women has been recognised today as a major social problem. It is an extreme manifestation of gender inequality and an example of systematic gender based discrimination. Some discriminatory laws of our country, in fact, encourage discrimination and violence against women. For example; there are laws which explicitly mandate "wife obedience” and these laws still govern marital relations in our country. Such legal loopholes are the main barriers to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women. The government should take immediate steps to remove these discriminatory laws to eradicate violence against women.
Rumana Ahmed Luna
South Khulshi, Chittagong
Who Defines Obscenity
It is very alarming that a professor of Dhaka University (DU) has been suspended for showing “obscene materials” in the classroom, in which he was teaching Gender and Development to his Masters students. When the government has been incorporating educative content on sexual and reproductive health rights in secondary level textbooks, it is really hard to believe that DU took such a step that would discourage scholars to talk about sexuality and gender. In the last issue (dated March 17, 2017), Star Weekend published the slides shared by the professor in the classroom, where I found no sign of obscenity. I will not be surprised if there is some kind of internal conspiracy due to which the teacher has been suspended under the excuse of “showing obscene materials”. However, if this is the practice of our country's most reputed institution of higher education, we must rethink about the quality of higher education in Bangladesh.
Abdullah Khan
Rampura, Dhaka
Corrupting a Generation
The Star Weekend published an article titled "Corrupting a Generation" on February 24, 2017 which elaborately focused on how we have corrupted our entire educational assessment system. I was astounded to know that every year, from 2012 to 2017; question papers of at least one public exam were disclosed before the exam date. Even question papers of the recruitment exams of Bangladesh Civil Service, conducted under Public Service Commission, one of the most empowered institutions of the country, were leaked. However, our government still made little progress to find those who were behind such heinous crimes that has almost destroyed our entire education system. Before any of the upcoming public exams, the government must ensure that all the culprits responsible for question paper leaking are brought to justice. It is really very shameful for us that our nation, which once won a nine month long liberation war, now, cannot arrange a single fair and transparent examination for its young students.
Masum Billah
IER, University of Dhaka
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The opinions expressed in these letters do not necessarily represent the views of the Star Weekend.