Unfortunately for Bangladesh, the month of August emerged as a month of mourning since 1975. It all started with the brutal killing of the father of the nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his family. The architect of the nation was gunned down on the dawn of August 15 just on the heels of healing some of the wounds inflicted by the occupation army during the war of liberation. The brutal murder paved for the nation a path of perilous politics and economics. Losing the father, the nation, seemingly, assailed on a boat with no destination in sight, whatsoever. During a large part of the nation's post-independence life, dictatorship displaced democracy, and in disguise for quite sometime military rule replaced people's rule in running the state affairs. Since the assassination of Bangabandhu till today, we practically achieved very little in terms of socio-economic and political uplift.

The economy witnessed a sharp U turn from a socialistic voyage to a bourgeoisie backlash. As of now in August 2005, neither democracy nor development denotes any meaning to the commoners. Poverty still persists pervasively to put around 45 per cent of the total population below the poverty line. The rate of saving and investment remains to be pitifully low. Inequality of income increased tremendously over the years and for a consecutive run of four years, the country topped the list of corruption in the world. Bangladesh is now being bracketed as a basket of corruption and criminal activities. Money and muscle now-a-days tend to manacle pure politics. The rise of fundamentalist forces all over the country added a further fillip to the ongoing deceleration in the march towards so-called development.

More painfully, the killers of 1975 and their associates emerged as the 'healers' of the nation in subsequent years. Instead of bringing them to book, the successive governments prized them with precious positions in government and business activities. Thus, not surprisingly perhaps, killing, terrorism, toll collection and rent seeking began to boom in the backdrop of 'amnesty' to the killers. However, during the last Awami League rule, the killers were tried and taken to justice subject to the hearing of the High Court. Meantime, the government changed and some of the judges reportedly expressed their 'embarrassment' in hearing the heinous activities of the killers. Justice is being delayed seemingly to deny the justice. All these went to tarnish the image of the country abroad.

Another August and another agony appeared on the horizon of Bangladesh on August 21, 2004. After 29 years of the killing of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, an attempt was made on the life of his daughter Sheikh Hasina -- the former Prime Minister of Bangladesh and the Leader of the Opposition in the Parliament. Series of grenade attacks were made on a public meeting in 2004 with a view to wiping out top notches of Awami League -- the party that led the freedom movement and vows to uphold secularism and social justice. While a number of activists of the party were killed and wounded in that gruesome attacks, Sheikh Hasina escaped death narrowly by the blessings of the Almighty. The whole world stood up to decry the attack. The image of the country reached the lowest ebb ever. But to an utter dismay, the ruling party blamed Awami League for the blasts and thus, indirectly, put up a curtain before the criminals. The attackers of the 21 August are yet to face the trial as, allegedly, they were not seriously sought for by the administration. May be, one day they will be brought to the book by the lower courts but an attitude of feeling 'embarrassment' on the part of some judges again might see the show shelved for a distant future.

And another August again arrived to attack us all. It was 17 August 2005 that 63 districts of the country came under simultaneous bomb attacks at a particular point of time and at selected sites. High court, higher educational institutions and district level court buildings witnessed a series of bomb blasts on that day. Few were killed and many were injured but the magnitude of the blasts was enormous. While we are quite aware of the 'wisdom' of the perpetrators in bombing around cultural and political festivities -- as we witnessed before -- this time the situation took us all aback. The national and international print and electronic media headlined the heinous heralding and condemned the course that Bangladesh is forced to follow. The image of the country abroad dipped to a low ebb. The already tarnished image begun to torn apart with adverse consequences on trade, business and investment.

Then again, pitifully though, the same old dirty tricks were taken up to divert the attention from catching the criminals to crusading against the main opposition party for its alleged involvement. One wonders as to how an organised attack, simultaneously in 63 districts, could come by in the wake of the presence of so many intelligence agencies in the country. It is being reported that the government was aware of such an attack at an earlier time (may be 14, 15 or 16 August) but bewildered by the blasts taking place on 17 August! But one may question that wisdom, too. What precautionary measures the government agencies took to avert such a happening? Knowing fully well that bomb blasts might rock the districts, was there any attempt to contain the crisis?

Questions also loom large over the role of the Parliament in these cases. Be it 21 or 17 August or a Tangratila-like devastation, we witness no discussions on these issues in the House. It is the observation that these incidents are like national catastrophes and duly demand a detailed discussion in the parliament and thus to look for ways and means to come out of the menace. Why is the government reluctant to do that?

Presumably, there is no answer to that question at the moment. Nor there was any before. But reading the month of August historically, one would come to the conclusion that absence of the rule of law and justice, the inability and the inaction in bringing the killers to the book and a grievously bad governance might continue to make it a month to mourn in the years to come. It is not the party in power or in opposition that is in peril; it seems to us that the heart of the whole nation is pierced through by the brutal blasts. Have we ever dreamt of such a Bangladesh where religious fundamentalists would dominate over democratic paths? By brining the killers of the August 15,17 and 21 to book possibly we can stem the rot we are reeling under. So long that does not happen, the month of August would continue to be a month to mourn. Let us stop it there.

Abdul Bayes is a Professor of Economics at Jahangirnagar University.