corrected Dear Members,
Assalamualikum. Please see the editorial of a new independant English daily of Dhaka on the subject of weekly holiday in Bangladesh. It is strange that a small minority has raised the issue of weekly holiday again though we are in the midst of so many other problems at the moment. Friday holiday is there for about 25 years and the Editorail below has rightly pointed out that Bangladesh has progressed more than ever in the last decade when Friday was the weekly holiday. I feel that this sattled issue has been raised only to create more disunity among the nation and will not serve national interest. I also support the editorial comment that the gjovernment should ignore this call of a section of people only. Shah Abdul Hannan Most People against Sunday Holiday We have seen a first page report in a daily which says that the government has decided to introduce Sunday as weekly holiday from the next week. We are surprised at this news. As far as we know the government, has not at all decided in favor of Sunday. This has not been demanded by any of the four major parties, the BNP, the Awami League, the Jamaat-e-Islami and the Jatiyo Party. In fact Jatiyo Party introduced Friday as holiday and BNP and Awami League did not change it. In fact we remember that when some businessmen demanded it about a year back, Mr. Saifur Rahman, Ex Finance Minister, said that the demand is irrelevant because when it is day time in Dhaka it is mostly night or evening in the west. We have already said before in another editorial that the demand for Sunday by business leaders is only emotional attachment with the west. The statistics show that export, import, remittance and GDP have grown constantly in the last twenty years. Some times key garment sector export has gone up by more thirty percent a year. We have also said earlier that not a single export consignment has been lost for Friday holiday. For Instance if the LC is for thirty days and if the last day is the Friday, there is no problem in shipment as the ports are open on all the days, even export sections of the customs are open. It is also not the view of the majority of the businessmen. If a survey is conducted it will be seen that most of them are not for Sunday instead of Friday, they may be for one day holiday but not for Sunday. We request the government to respect the opinion of the general people, the political parties and the Ulama because, even otherwise, there is no harm in continuing with Friday as holiday. Editorial, Asial Post, Friday 02, 2007
