Saarc Summit

. PHOTO: AFP

As far as state security is concerned, there cannot be one hundred percent warranty and, God forbid, any unanticipated, unwarranted incident could happen. So security had to be beefed up. But the inconvenience caused to the people was too great.

The 13th Saarc summit was held in Dhaka from 10-13 Nov. The main venues involved in the "Mahasammelan" were Bangladesh-China friendship conference hall, Hotel Sonargaon, Hotel Sheraton, National Martyrs' Monument, Holy Cross School, Nilkhet Gurdwara etc.

And behold what an elected government and its intelligence and law enforcing agencies have inflicted upon the tax paying working commuting common people, traders, businessmen, populace and voters of Dhaka city.

Kawran Bazar, the biggest whole sale market of Dhaka remained closed for four days which means the wholesale market, retail market, fish market, meat market, retail cloth markets, fruit market, general market, groceries, and what not, resulting in loss of Tk.1200 Millions to traders, their employees, common day labourers--who will probably borrow money from a money lender to buy food (the lender may be a BNP man because they have all the money now!), loss to the transport sector, add to it hassle and harassment to the common people, commuters, workers, etc. The most important roads remained virtually closed, foreign travel for workers -- the biggest FC earners of the country, common travellers, patients, business people was hindered as a de facto curfew was in force in the airport area.

We very well understand and appreciate the anguish, anxiety and insecurity of the present government. They could not hold Saarc Summit twice due to various reasons after so much of preparation.

The Saarc Summit was held in Bangalore, India. One eyewitness narrated that it was performed in such a way that people were not harassed or troubled. They did not suffer any loss of trade, business.

There lived a King called Muhammad bin Tughlak. We are well informed of his activities. Does he have any relevance in today's world?

SN Mamoon, Dhaka

We, the general people agree that strong security was needed for the Saarc Summit. But the way people were being harassed in streets during this summit was unbearable. Most of the important roads of Dhaka city were closed during peak time.

We had to abide by those rules by any means. But enforcement of rules is still lax in many important areas.

Sarita Rahman, Dhaka

Dhaka changed drastically during the week of Saarc and I was one of the few roaming around the streets of the city. To me, it seemed a different Dhaka, cleaner, greener and festive. But were we really portraying a true picture of Dhaka and its present state to the rest of South Asia? Wasn't this a hoax? Nonetheless, the preparation had been grand. In this regard I agree with Mr Faisal on the comments made in his letter.

It is about time that the benefits of Saarc are realised. New agendas such as terrorism and disaster management have been added to the priority list. The members should now focus on implementation programmes as there will always be enough room and time for dialogue.

Mohammed Adeeb Aziz On e-mail

We do feel proud of our great leaders of the South Asian countries. All the Saarc countries have attended the 13th Summit held in Dhaka, and have contributed towards achieving the goal of regional cooperation and development. India and Bangladesh played a vital role. Our Shaheed President Zia dreamt of the present Saarc for which he has been given the most prestigious Award.

We convey our heartfelt thanks and warm felicitations to all the South Asian leaders for making the summit a great success.

Peerzada Syed Rofiqul Hussain Gulshan, Dhaka

I want to raise a rather different issue regarding Saarc and it is also related to the people of our city as well as of the whole country. During the summit, people who commuted in Dhaka from its one farthest point to another found travelling totally free of traffic jam. My concern is how to sustain this position on a regular basis.

Dhaka city is very congested and needs open spaces and wider roads. Moreover, we should retain our endeavour to extend the periphery of the city. The decision makers and planners should address the issue in right earnest.

Tawhid Shams Chowdhury BRAC University, Dhaka

I would like to raise a question about the euphoria of the government regarding the Saarc Summit that we witnessed. The decorations and lighting of the Sheraton Hotel and the grand arrangements to receive the honourable Saarc guests including the sophisticated security measures like patrolling the city with dogs and using mine detectors in order to ensure safety for the guests amused us to some extent. We had not seen anything like that in the past.

The point that I want to make is that Bangladesh is an underdeveloped country and the beautification costs of the summit must have been very high. It was done with people's money. The government had no right to spend so lavishly for an unproductive occasion like the Saarc Summit.

Naome Syed Mohammadpur, Dhaka