Letters to the editor
Zakat stampede leaves questions unanswered
Sir,
Zakat is one of the five pillars of Islam. Giving Zakat publicly is permissible in Islam. There is no harm in this practice. Payment of Zakat publicly by an affluent person (his or her intention should not be to show off or be boastful) may encourage others in the society to fulfill their duties as well.
If more people come forward to pay Zakat, more poor people will be benefited. Many wealthy people of our country pay Zakat just before the Eid-ul-Fitr every year. But what occurred centering around payment of Zakat in Mymensingh on July 10 was very unfortunate. The stampede that occurred while collecting Zakat saris killed 27 people.
After this tragedy police arrested the zakat giver, a businessman who is the owner of a zarda (chewing tobacco) company, and a few others and charges of murder were brought against them. But a section of people are misinterpreting the pious intention of the giver. The media is also trying to muddle up things and harass the giver.
What harm did he do in giving Zakat ? Reportedly, the businessman had earlier distributed cards to 500 people. The card holders were asked to come at a particular time and collect their Zakat in a disciplined manner. But many more than the 500 card holders had assembled at the place. They became desperate and tried to force their way and grab the zakat clothes. To tackle the situation, the security guards intervened and the stampede took place in which these people died.
But the obvious questions that cannot help but arise are : was the incident an engineered one ? Did someone, a rival or enemy of the zakat giver, deliberately plotted and sent a crowd well above the permissible number to his house knowing well that the unwanted persons would engage in violence to collect the clothes meant for others and the zakat giver would be burdened with the sort of unpleasant situation that developed leading to his arrest and condemnation. It defies sensibility that a man who has been successfully giving zakat for so many years would now risk so much to give zakat knowing fully well what a fate awaited him from doing so. Thus, the conspiracy theory cannot be set aside and needs further investigation
From the media reports and others concerned it is assumed that the donor of the Zakat is solely responsible for the tragedy. Is it actually so ? Is it not clear that the intention of the donor was pious ? It is the jurisdiction of the court to decide whether he is guilty or not.
The way the chewing tobacco company owner has been arrested and being harassed would discourage other affluent persons of the country in discharging their Zakat related responsibilities. Who will suffer the hassles of calling or informing police before paying Zakat ? It is ultimately the poor people who will be the losers.
Giving of Zakat can play a role in eradication of poverty in the country. So, encouragement for giving of Zakat can help reach the goal. But the way the stampede incident in Mymensingh was reacted to will leave an adverse impact on the giving of Zakat throughout the country.
Under the circumstances, a thorough investigation of the incident should be carried out immediately. The Zakat giver in focus should be freed from captivity immediately so that he can pay attention to his business and does not feel discouraged to give Zakat in future.
By the way, we noted a fine write-up in the opinion page of your paper recently on the zakat tragedy. I like to thank the writer of that article for his timely effort to separate truth from falsehood.
Khurshid Azam, DOHS, Dhaka
Saving costs of foreign treatment
Sir,
According to a study a huge amount of money is currently drained by Bangladeshi patients for treatment abroad. It must be admitted though that a decrease in this expenditure is noted during the last couple of years as some
international standard hospitals started their activities in Dhaka supported by helpful governmental policies. The major publicly run hospitals have also significantly added to their capacities and improved their services delivery during this period under the watchful vigilance of the relevant government ministry. Nonetheless, the expenditures on foreign medical treatment by Bangladeshis can be slashed down further.
The first thing in order would be the taking of immediate steps to improve the existing state of medical and health care in the country. The general public health care system has no doubt improved under the present government but can be improved further. If it is improved substantially, then this will check some sections of people from wanting foreign treatment. Much greater positive results can come from regulating and bringing up to standard the private clinics, hospitals, diagnostic centres, etc., which are operating below the standard.
Furthermore, government should make its own investments for the establishment of general hospitals and specialized hospitals. The private sector should also come forward to set up such hospitals and facilities for specialized medical care considering these to be investments with prospects of good returns because there exists a huge demand for such high class specialized medical care in the country.
Only from pursing the above strategies, the phenomenon of the drain of resources on foreign treatment can decline on a sustainable basis.
Ali Reza Khan, Uttara, Dhaka
