"Security of the common people has totally collapsed and the overall situation is now extremely vulnerable," Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad, president of BEA, told a press briefing at the Jatiya Press Club yesterday.

Stressing the need for identifying the source of militants' funds, he said it is essential to identify their godfathers are and with whom they have connections.

It is not possible to suppress militants without addressing their roots, he observed. Corruption by helping a few people become richer has aggravated the overall situation, he added.

"The government has failed to prove its sincerity in chalking out a plan of action and addressing the issue," Kholiquzzaman said, adding, these are the indications that Bangladesh is moving to be identified as a failed state.

"It is the perception of the outside world. We can change it by our work but unfortunately things are not moving towards that direction," the BEA president added.

Speaking at the briefing, BEA General Secretary Abul Barakat said it is being claimed that the ruling coalition has no links with militants, but some leaders within the alliance are disputing the claim.

"It is very clear that the ruling coalition is divided on the issue of militancy," he said.

He cast doubt over the sincerity of the government in crushing the militants as it had earlier claimed the media hyped up the militancy issue.

Non-government organisations (NGOs) are being forced to close operations, while at the same time a bearer bank cheque of Tk 2 crore is being released, Barakat said. He was presenting the BEA's observations on the impact of militancy in a paper styled 'Crisis Situation of the Country'.

It will ultimately create a situation hostile to investment in the country if things are not changed, he said. Militant groups are so organised, both politically and economically, that they have developed strong sources of funding locally and internationally, he explained.

Barakat, who teaches economics at Dhaka University, said the intensity of threats and suicide bombings across the country is discouraging domestic investment and would do the same to foreign investments.

Ongoing militant activities are heavily affecting the supply chain and it would hit the overall production hard in the days to come if the situation continues, he said. Most of the small and medium enterprises are in the growth zones, he added.

Terming these SMEs the engines of the economy, he said, "Economy may become vulnerable if the SMEs are affected."

Qazi Kholiquzzaman said the government must prove its sincerity, good intentions, transparency and accountability to the people by reversing the socioeconomic and political downslide.

“There's no alternative to constitutional process to resist this politico-economic fragility,” he said, expressing the association's concern over the everyday incidents being staged by the militants.

He identified increased disparity between the rich and the poor as the main reason for the youths' opting for militancy, and poverty and lack of proper education as other causes contributing to this uncanny development.

The BEA president said the income disparity between the top 5 percent rich group of people and the lowest 5 percent poor people widened 84 times in 2005 from 46 times in 2000.

The economist stressed the need for removing the disparity, corruption and poverty as well as improving the quality of education as a permanent remedy to the problem.

Barakat said findings of a research work say annual net profit of the businesses controlled by the fundamental groups is approximately Tk 1,206 crore.

They have businesses in eight major areas including financial institutions such as bank, insurance, leasing companies and pharmaceuticals, educational institutions, communication sector, real estate, media, non-government organisations (NGOs) and trading houses.

"There is a strong indication that they have reliable financial sources locally apart from the international networks," Barakat added.