On the other hand renewed incidents of Sarbahara group attacking a police camp at Natore on the day the PM was inaugurating the construction of a bridge just 30 km away, killing three Ansars and looting their rifles; trading of gunfire with terrorists at Sylhet and killing of three civilians at Kushtia when police opened fire on some allegedly illegal cane crushers on the same day in different parts of the country came as a pathetic reminder of disquieting scene in the country or rather the futility of the administration's glib talks of improvement in the law and order situation.

As politicians on both sides of the divide trade charges and counter charges of plots, the real issues of lawlessness, extreme poverty, joblessness and economic slowdown has taken a back seat. Coalition government is reluctant to admit that our villages, once the most tranquil zones in the country have had the highest incidence of crime today ranging from killing, abduction, looting and extortion. The situation has come to such a pass due to growing political interference and inaction of the agencies concerned and worst of all, politicians of a particular hue abetting such clandestine activities.

The failures have been at different levels of the government. However, the overarching failure has been at the political level. Profoundly true, the country started with enormous political capital accumulated during our liberation war. The leaders at that time were generally austere and patriotic. In the last three decades and a half, this political capital has been depleted. Political parties these days are unable to attract genuine talent.

There are shocking deficiencies in the working of the three branches of the government. Firstly, take Parliament. The essential business of any parliament is legislative. However, our Parliament devotes very little time to legislative business save eulogizing or blaming party leaders bills without allowing the opposition to participate in any debate.

At the judicial level also there are deficiencies that contribute to deficiencies in governance. The biggest failing is the huge backlog of cases. There are long delays in disposing of even the most urgent cases that has helped fuel more crimes. Pathetically true, these days the legislature makes more noise than laws and the executive is marked by scandals than governance. The failing of the legislative and judicial branches pales in comparison with the failing of the executive branch. It is at this level that there is little intellectual and moral support for either economic reforms or urgent development programmes. The administrative top tier, it appears , these days does not make room for persons of talent, merit, dynamism, innovative ideas and integrity. The ministerial cabinet, working for the last four years, could not deliver the goods perhaps because of coalition pressures to enforce their own party agenda and likewise demanding key ministries regardless of their administrative experience, competence and knowledge over the diverse issues confronting the ministry.

As a result there are many square pegs in round holes. This leads to a rigid hierarchy aggravating the problems at the administrative level. If a minister is unfamiliar with the subject, the bureaucrat virtually takes over his functions and reduces him to a rubber stamp. Paradoxically true, the country's power, gas and aviation sectors during the last four years suffered badly because of this deficiency. No one in the civil service holds his tenure based on performance. So it is possible for a low level bureaucrat to keep at bay for months an investment proposal running into thousands of crores of taka that ultimately takes a heavy toll on the country's resources and development. In fact, that is precisely what happened to the proposals that came to the government from independent power producers. The administrative system does not allow for talent to rise to its natural level. Nor does it allow for outside talent to be inducted into the system. Sound economic policy is necessary but not sufficient itself to ensure progress. It must be rooted in good governance.

Could anybody imagine that because of political or ideological differences, a Muslim could go to the extent of killing his adversaries belonging to the same faith, chop the body into four pieces, feeding one piece to dogs and the rest three dump under the ground without formal burial as per Muslim rites? Khejur Ali of Attrai in Rajshahi was killed in such a barbaric manner in the early part of 2004 by the JMB activists in presence of his mother and sisters. Abdul Qaiyum Badshah of Shafiqpur village in Baragacha union in Rajshahi was first killed by the so called Islamists in Viti camp set up by JMB operatives and then his lifeless body was hung up on a roadside tree in Nandigram with his head upside down. All these dirty jobs were done by Bangla Bhai, his deputy Professor (?) Lutfar Rahman, now arrested, and his associates, still at large. Can this be a type of Islam that summons up so much violence and vengeance even at death as was profoundly stirred up by the mastermind Shaikh Abdur Rahman and Bangla Bhai, the so-called radical Islamist leaders now rocking the whole country?

With 1.2 billion followers Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world. If the carnage carried on by the zealots in recent time in different parts of the country were typical of the faith, and Islam inspired and justified such violence, its growth and increasing presence of Muslims throughout the world would be a terrifying prospect. Fortunately, that is not the case. While recalling those gory incidents of killing and looting by the Bangla Bhai and his associates, people in the country rather demand to know what the administration has done about that former S.P of Rajshahi whose action of providing support and escort to Bangla Bhai and his associates in the city streets of Rajshahi made headlines at that time. Even after Bangla Bhai's carnage, brutal murders and sinister designs were exposed, the administration remained unfazed. This is the type of government behaviour which probably let the entire country slide to its pathetic state at the first place.

Sadly true, the worthy and workable consensus of tolerance and goodwill that existed so long is in danger of breaking down apparently with the tacit incitement of some extremist groups possibly having link with some coalition partners. What is beyond doubt and what the general populace can hardly comprehend is that religious fundamentalism has very little to do with theology and is purely a political tool. Affirming their belief in the English saying, people in the country feel there is no better time to demand a separation of the state and church. Whether it is Jamaat leaders or other radical Islamist groups or the fear psychosis drummed into the minds of the general populace by JMB leaders, the language is the same. The ground rules of the country's political life have to be redrawn and dogmatic medievalism needs to be exorcised from public discourse as well as from all places in the country.

Conscious citizenry feel that if the existing law is applied impartially and forcefully it puts the fear of God not only in criminals but also their mentors-politicians too. But if you are applying the law selectively as the administration has done in most of the cases in the last few years keeping the real culprits beyond the net, the crime graph will soar inexorably. It is totally unnecessary to go for enactment of new laws every morning a new criminal act is committed, nor it is necessary to participate in a dialogue with the PM across the table or seek guidelines from the opposition for curbing terrorism in the country. The mainstream Coalition partner as well as the Opposition parties know the places, persons and parties harbouring them and it's for the government to put their nest on fire. Given the fact that media reports from the beginning have given enough indications of the dangers lurking in, the administration can ill-afford to ignore the catastrophic signals.

Paradoxically true, trying to destroy the credibility of the journalists is perhaps easier than judging the facts presented by them. But most dangerously, the law enforcers have closed their eyes to what has been going on in many places around them, allegedly because in most cases they have to heed nods from the terrorists and their patrons. Coincidentally, the PM ordered the arrest of Bangla Bhai at a time when he and his followers were wreaking havoc at Rajshahi and adjoining places, but the law enforcers didn't take the order in letter and spirit even if the general public did.

Bagmara was a name little known outside Rajshahi. Not anymore. The most obscure incidents that took place in the early part of 2004 extending over the whole North Bengal culminating in the serial blasts on Aug. 17 and the latest suicide attacks, with Bangla Bhai and Shaikh Abdur Rahman as the masterminds, have inflamed passions or rather tarnished the perception about the peaceful images of Islam and changed the political landscape of the country. These incidents have united the opposition, galvanised the people and sparked country wide agitation against the alliance government that finds itself in disarray faced with a fast decline in foreign aid with consequent borrowing from the country's banking system that has fuelled inflationary trend.

At the moment the alliance government seems to be a bedraggled lot. In a recently held Parliamentary by-election, the four party alliance has failed to retain their seat. In a similar manner, in a number of recently held Pourashabha elections, BNP led alliance could win in two only, showing a fast dip in the popularity index. Precisely true, the ruling alliance's lack of vision and assiduous nurturing of some chosen party men busy in collecting funds from all sources to the complete disregard of the people's interest has left the country gasping for such essentials as power, water, electricity and hassle-free roads and highways.

As for electricity, the less said the better. Even in these winter days most towns outside Dhaka remain dark for hours after evening as supply plants resort to indiscriminate load shedding. And the way drinking water is drying up, only a miracle can save Dhaka city and other south western districts from a severe water scarcity next summer. Undeniably true, if the city's as well as the country's resources have been under tremendous strain, it is also because of the burgeoning population. In the meantime Dhaka city's population has boomed to almost 13 million. With more than 4 lakh cars, jeeps and micro buses; 7 thousand passenger buses and almost 40 thousand auto-rickshaws plying the Dhaka city roads, something like the law of the jungle prevail on the roads. What a nightmarish experience it is that it takes one hour and a half to travel a distance of 15 km from Uttara to Dhaka city by any mechanised transport like bus or car. With no thought given to constructing by-pass routes down the Mohakhali flyover, traffic congestion problem has further aggravated as cars, buses and auto-rickshaws from the surface route and the route above slide down the Mohakhali and cantonment crossing from three directions simultaneously.

Instead of tackling the crisis, the government has been talking of sky pass, sub-way lines and river transport around Dhaka to ease road congestion. The citizenry are left wondering how many more rides the government will take them for. If the roads are virtual death traps with unusual hold ups for hours, people are not safe in the confines of their homes or business premises either. The PM must have noticed that there is general disenchantment with her government's inability to do anything that goes in favour of good governance. With the advent of election time, just ten months away, it will be left to the chief executive to see leaving aside explain why the government failed to protect the poorest of the country's citizens from the depredations of corrupt officials involving all sectors of bureaucracy.

Md. Asadullah Khan is a former teacher of physics and Controller of Examinations, BUET.