World Postal Day: Let the Postmen Return to Tradition

Dr. Md. Anwar Hossain :

Knock knock knock …who? Postman (postman) Letters and parcels! Whose letter/parcel has arrived? Bob, if you send money, send it, if you don’t send it, I will die of lack of rice. Go abroad, my friend, don’t forget me, send me a letter, send me a letter, tell me the address, tell me the address.

This curiosity, this longing-there is no language for this feeling. “What is the magic, what is the affection, what is the affection, what is the magic in the black letters of the address written by the hand of a dear person and in the parcels” — This feeling expresses a special feeling.

Just how many people have spent so many lonely nights waiting for a letter or parcel from a loved one who has come from afar, or just smelling the scent of the letter or parcel they have received, how many eyes have shed tears while looking at the bundle of loved ones, also shows the depth of the relationship.

The excitement, emotion, love, and affection that comes from receiving a gift from a loved one through the post office cannot be found in any other medium.

October 9, World Post Day.Like other countries in the world, the day is being celebrated in Bangladesh through various programs.The theme of World Post Day 2025 is “Post for the People: Local Service, Global Reach”.

The Universal Postal Union (UPU) has called on member countries to participate in a global social media campaign on this theme.

The theme highlights that postal services provide services to the people at the grassroots level, and have an essential impact on the public.

In 1868, a senior official of the German postal service, J. Heinrich von Stephan, attempted to form a postal union and presented an outline to the German government.

The German government took the initiative based on the idea.

The International Postal Conference was held in Bern, Switzerland.

From September 15 to October 9, 1874, postal departments of 22 countries met to organize this conference.

On the last day of the conference, on October 9, the General Union of Posts was established.

In 1878, the General Union of Posts was transformed into the Universal Postal Organisation. After the formation of the Universal Postal Organisation, letters from any territory could be received by different nations free of charge.

Previously, if a letter was international, the postage stamps of the number of geographical areas it traveled between had to be added to the envelope.This caused a lot of trouble for the postal department.

In 1969, the 16th session of the Universal Postal Organisation was held in Tokyo, Japan. At that meeting, it was decided to celebrate October 9 as Universal Postal Union Day.

In 1984, the 19th session of the Universal Postal Organisation was held in Hamburg, Germany.At that session, Universal Postal Union Day was considered as World Postal Day.

Bangladesh became a member of the Universal Postal Organization in 1973. Since then, Bangladesh Postal has been celebrating October 9 as World Post Day every year.

This year too, World Post Day is being celebrated. On this occasion, discussion meetings, letter writing competitions and special discussion programmes on Bangladesh Radio and Television have been organised by the Department of Posts.

Bangladesh Postal Department is a government agency under the Department of Posts and Telecommunications, which is a part of the Ministry of Information Technology. The activities of Bangladesh Postal Department include receiving, transporting and delivering domestic and foreign letters, parcels, and other postal items.

In addition, Bangladesh Post Office also operates savings banks, postal life insurance, various types of express (such as EMS) and remittance services, and other commercial and financial activities such as book post and registered newspaper services.

To provide fast, reliable and accurate services, Bangladesh Postal Department has introduced express (such as EMS or Express Mail Service), through which it can be tracked from the Internet.

The Postal Department provides courier services related to sending mail, such as Gifted Education Program (GEP) and EMS. It also includes Value Payable (VP) services and other authorised banking activities.

At this time, as Bangladesh entered the digital era, their main activity, i.e., letter delivery, has decreased to a large extent, so the department also distributes telephone bills in various metropolitan cities including Dhaka.

There was a time when people’s happiness and sorrow, emotions and feelings, love and affection, environment and situation were all sent through the post office.Waiting for any parcel or letter to be touched by the hands of loved ones took a long time.

The address was written in large letters on the envelopes and postcards. Postmen used to go door to door with that address and deliver the letter.

Now all this is a thing of the past. The life of a postman was a difficult and challenging one, carrying letters and important messages by hand, an urgent and responsible profession.

In this profession, they had to travel from village to village at high speed in adverse weather conditions, which was an integral part of the communication system. This profession is now almost extinct due to technology, but their memory is still alive in literature and sculpture.

The most notable aspect of the life of the postmen was their hard work. They had to travel long distances at a fast pace day after day, night after night, which was a very laborious job. Delivering letters or messages was a huge responsibility for them.

They had to reach their destination on time, ignoring adverse weather, wildlife and road obstacles. Postmen were an integral part of rural life. They not only carried letters, but also carried news of people’s happiness and sorrow, feelings of joy and pain.

Gagan Harakra did agricultural work along with this profession, from which he earned a living. This profession gave them a special place in the rural society of that time.

Postmanship has become a dying profession due to the spread of advanced technology. Modern communication systems such as mobile phones and the internet have made their work much easier.

Their life is considered only as a memory today. A sculpture has been erected at the Nishan Mor of Kushtia Municipality, which highlights this past life of Dak Harkara.

In Bengali literature, Rabindranath Tagore, Sukanta Bhattacharya and Tarashankar Banerjee have immortalised the life of Dak Harkara through their writings. Rabindranath Tagore has reflected the life of Dak Harkara through the character of Gagan Harkara in the play ‘DakGhar’, their emotions and humanism.

In addition, a wonderful picture of Dak Harkara’s life struggle, fatigue and humanism is found in Sukanta Bhattacharya’s poem ‘Rana’, which reveals the adversities of their life and a life dedicated to duty.

The main character of the play, Gagan Harakara, was a Dak Harkara. Rabindranath Tagore conveyed the message of humanity and unity among all people through this character, which is a symbolic representation of the life and work of the Dak Harkara.

The poem “Runner” is written around the life of the postmen. Here the runner or postman is shown as a character who is as energetic as a deer and is engaged in the struggle for life. “With a lantern in his hand, he knocks, the fireflies give light” – this line depicts the runner’s movement at night.

“Leaving behind many years of life, the burden of the world, the hungry runner has delivered ‘Mele'” – these lines depict the fatigue, hard work and sense of responsibility of the postmen. “The sky is touched by fatigue, the ground is soaked in sweat” – this part describes their physical labor and sacrifice.

“With much sorrow, much pain, pride, and affection, his beloved wakes up alone in his bed at home, sleepless nights” – these lines depict the personal hardships of the postmen who work separated from their families.

These quotes and writings suggest that poets and writers did not just see postal workers as ordinary professionals, but also portrayed their lives as symbols of humanity, sacrifice, and adversity.

Avid stamp collecting, or philately, is the collection of postage stamps and related items, such as stamped envelopes and postmarks, which is a significant hobby.

It is a popular hobby due to its interest in history, culture, and art, and it helps to showcase a country’s identity. It has become a popular hobby worldwide since the first official postage stamps were issued in England in 1840.

We can start collecting based on a specific country, stamp theme (e.g. birds, flowers, historical events), or time period. We can use a simple notebook or album to collect stamps.

We can write the date, source, and relevant information next to each stamp. Learning about different types of stamps, their historical context, and art can greatly increase your knowledge. There are many types of stamp albums available. These help in preserving stamps.

When this example comes to mind, it seems that the need for post offices is not only for communication with each other, but also for a large extent, it identifies time and history.
Therefore, on World Post Day, people may once again sit down with ink, pen and paper, and someone like poet Shakti Chatterjee will write, ‘I have seen many postmen in the forests of Hemant’.

The main goal of the Bangladesh Postal Department should be to deliver affordable, reliable and quality postal services to the doorsteps of the common people even in the era of existing information technology. To ensure customer satisfaction through honesty and sincerity.

The future goal of the Bangladesh Postal Department should be to contribute to the construction of ‘Smart Bangladesh’ and to strengthen the foothold of Bangladesh Post in the world.

I will end with a request – let the postal department live, let the tradition live. Let the ink-pen-mind, let these three come together again, let the postal workers come to the door again, let there be a revolution – a revolution of tradition – a revolution of communication.