Star Diary

When Religion is a Burden

	Photo: Internet

Ido not intend to offend anyone's religious feelings, but the hurdle I recently faced has really annoyed me and I do not find it justified at all to be victimised by such a situation.

I live in Uttara, a place that houses the Bissho Ijtema Math where Ijtema Munajat (prayers) takes place. It happens on a particular Sunday, ever January. People from all over Bangladesh some even from our neighboring countries gather here. People begin coming into Uttara as early as four days before the Munajat. And the roads get rowded with thousands of people, even the trains are filled. Of course the government has taken a few steps to mobilise this huge group of people, but the steps are insufficient.

For someone who has to regularly commute from Uttara to Farmgate it is already an ordeal because of the current traffic situation and it becomes worse when there are too many commuters compared to the number of buses. And who should we blame; the pilgrimage that takes place is not really mentioned in our holy books, so why it is so overzealously performed? I do not think Islam or any religion for that matter, promotes anything that causes trouble to people. For the last two years I have cowardly taken leave from work on such occasions and I know of many who have to do the same.

Hamida Rashid
Uttara ,Dhaka

---

Suspicious Marketing Techniques

Two days ago, as I was entering our apartment building, a middle-aged man stepped inside with me. From his appearance, I gathered that he was from a lower-middle-income background. I figured he must be a guest. However, I overheard him asking our gatekeeper, a young recruit, if there were any cars or motorcycles for sale in the building. When our gatekeeper answered in the negative, he started searching his wallet for a card which he wanted to give to the gatekeeper so that he could inform him about any interested sellers. The conversation aroused my suspicion and I turned and asked the man why he was looking for cars and motorcycles. Replying to my question he asked me if I would sell anything or wanted to get into his trade. When I introduced myself as a journalist, he became uneasy and said that there was nothing illegal in his business. He said that he bought old cars and sold those at the second-hand car haats. When I asked him if this was the right way to find out about interested sellers, his uneasiness increased. However, he got a phone call exactly at that moment and that helped him to escape. He pretended to answer it and walked out of the gate while talking over the phone. I understand that the marketing techniques need to be unique, but with the rise of crimes in the city, I am not sure whether such techniques should be encouraged.

Nazmul Ahsan
Dhanmondi, Dhaka