In Bangladesh, there is no evidence of the authority directly sponsoring terrorism, but through numerous acts of omission and commission it created a milieu where tragic dramas like one on the black Saturday could easily be enacted. After a series of bomb blasts across the country for last couple of years the fingers already started pointing at the fundamentalist elements of the ruling coalition for their possible complicity in the crimes. These pseudo custodians of Islam who opposed the independence of the country have since been striking at the root of the nation's value system and trying to liquidate all who uphold it. Of late, when there were wide-scale reports in the press of clandestine Jihadi outfits, their training, arms catche and brushes with the law enforcing agencies the government reaction was one of non-chalance. As the media became louder with their reports of the brutality of these elements -- particularly of Bangla Bhai outfits -- there has again been an enigmatic inaction or inability to act. With the fundamentalists' rapidly growing power the government's authority was relegated into irrelevance. It was in that vacuum that the fundamentalists bared their fangs and later struck with some precision.

Surprisingly it is the same government which is known for its relentless repression of the political opponents with unusual promptness. Its cops unable to provide public safety and security and hunt-down the criminals act, however, with extraordinary agility and alacrity on the streets to hound out the protest marchers and beat them up ruthlessly. Obviously disturbing questions are raised about their softness in dealing with the band of criminals who now assault the rampart on which our statehood rests.

The making of the Frankenstein seems to be complete. It is a matter of conjecture when and how will the monster turn against whom, but the full blast of its fury was witnessed in the gory afternoon of August 21 last when AL staged a peaceful protest rally to denounce the countrywide bomb terror in Bangabandhu Avenue. The carnage ominously reminded us of the continuation of the process that started in the fateful night of 15 August twenty-nine years ago. The criminals are hell bent to deny us a Bangladesh of the vision of its founding father.

What happened on 21 August at Bangabandhu Avenue -- let it be clear -- is not just another event. It has, for the first time, brought us face to face with some fundamental questions. It was challenge to the core values of our national security. As a matter of fact the battle lines are now distinctly drawn on either side of which the forces of both ours' and enemy's are neatly arrayed. Those of us who cherish democracy, tolerance, dissent and decency are squarely facing the forces of reaction and obscurantism. In this struggle against the evil and ugly we cannot afford to lose lest we are trivialised as a nation and shackled afresh by those who trade in the name of religion and use terror as their weapon.

The black Saturday has defiled our history and desecrated the soul of our nation. The criminals' invisible black hand will have to be twisted. Or else they will again stab us from the back. The great hope is the cowardice of the terrorists who seldom confront the challenger. But then it is equally difficult to deal with an invisible enemy. A great deal will depend on how strongly we feel for our cherished way of life.

There was an interesting news item in one of the national dailies. In one of the district towns the pickets for hartal called to protest the carnage on 21 August were being chased by the police assisted by some madrasah students, out of all people. While piecing together such tell-tale news items there emerges a pattern that suggests deep nexus between the establishment and the mullahs -- exactly the way it was in Pakistan where an exasperated administration is now trying to manage those elements. The religion of Islam is too great to be left exclusively in the hands of these half baked mullahs unable to fathom its message and discover its beauty .

The twenty-first August is a watershed in the history of our nation. It wasn't a blow only to Awami League whose leadership is substantially eliminated and maimed. There is little, for the ruling alliance, to draw pleasure or complacency from the AL's predicament. All other mainstream political outfits are likely to have their turn. The force that has perhaps been inadvertently nourished and promoted by the ruling class is certainly not the latter's friend. It is only friendship of convenience and will crumble when either of them will feel hurt in their interest.

It is therefore the time for closing the ranks and major initiative for that lies with the government.

Brig ( retd) Hafiz is former DG of BIISS.