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Laid down

July 07, 2007 00:00:00


Honestly speaking, I was appalled to know through the FE issue of last Thursday that the Director General of the Bangladesh Betar has initialed an agreement along side the BBC Bangla service Chief on behalf of their respective organizations for relaying BBC programmes on a FM transmitter in Dhaka. Structurally, not even the Managing Director of the BBC World Service, of which its Bangla unit is barely a minor component of its Eastern Service, is not equivalent to the Director General of the Bangladesh Betar, which runs concurrently the domestic radio and its world services. His equivalent could be the Chairman of the BBC who is the figure-head of the BBC domestic radio and the BBC World Service.
Enthusiasm among officials of the republic is good. But when extra-enthusiasm in any of them in regard to conduct of affairs with a foreign country or foreign organisation verges on compromising protocol in violation of the principle of sovereign equality in inter-state relations, any dignified citizen has a genuine reason to protest.
As a citizen, I demand an explanation from our ministry of information for offending my country. Could they not find out someone protocol-wise equivalent to the signatory of the other side to sign the agreement?
Masum Ahmed
Dhanmondi, Dhaka

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