From The Daily Star Editorial  May 19, 1998
 

We are Aghast
                  It has been a year since the government committed itself to the treatment and social rehabilitation of
                  nine acid burn victims in a workshop arranged by Naripakkho - a women's rights organisation but
                  nothing as a national daily reported recently, has been done so far. And from signs available those
                  promises will remain as pie in the sky for this unfortunate nine. While one of the group gives voluntary
                  service to the organisation that assembled them, the rest with the exception of one, are rotting in social
                  isolation.

                  More often than not there are donkey's years between a government decision and its implementation.
                  But this beats all other instances of procrastination for its sheer cruelty and insensitivity. Apparently
                  there was nothing wrong with the initiative. The decision was promptly taken. Even the foreign agency
                  to fund the project was not elusive. But nothing happened. So what went wrong?

                  Reportedly the original project underwent some 'strategic considerations' and although mouthful of
                  provisions were incorporated in it, the more important thing - the coordinated effort for timely
                  implementation of the decision - got lost.

                  This is most unfortunate. Not only the treatment and rehabilitation of these girls have been inordinately
                  delayed but also those who had committed these monstrous crimes against them are roaming freely as
                  hardly anything has been done to bring them to book. We feel the authorities are sending wrong
                  signals to the victims as well as criminals. We urge them to take stock of the situation and do
                  whatever it takes to make sure that not only those nine girls but all the acid burn victims get proper
                  treatment and are socially rehabilitated sooner than later.
 


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