Let there be light!
Rajib Ahmed, Lecturer, Department of English, Southeast University
According to the government's proclamations, all shops are to be closed after 7:00pm excepting food courts and medicinal shops. In view of the distressing power crisis, maybe we can no longer afford to work after dusk, and have to reconcile with this setback. But shouldn't we prepare ourselves for such future challenges like the power shortage that we are facing now? Or should we go on just tightening our belts and leaving our future generations groping in the dark at every step of their life? We surely don't want to make the mistake our predecessors made, and therefore want to equip ourselves better. And to that end, maybe including book-shops in the list of allowed shops to remain open after dusk, could be the first step toward sending the message across all corners of the society, that knowledge is the brightest torch that one can bear to foresee upcoming challenges. Bookshops surely deserve to be kept open (even 24 hours, if possible) as we have a very scanty percentage of well-educated, skilled and morally--upright people in our society. If I am asked personally, I would voluntarily euphemize by saying that in a country like ours, keeping bookshops closed is tantamount to committing suicide en masse. I would, therefore, implore the government to act to illuminate our bookshops, the houses of knowledge.
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