For those foolish people who have gone rather effusive regarding such a development, the statement of an ex-military man can well be an eye-opener. Admittedly, no military government can redress the grievances to the satisfaction of the majority of the people. Martial law aggravates the situation further, and corruption is practiced all the more avidly, though it usurps power in the name of uprooting corruption.

Arguably, Bangladesh's long-standing experience with military rule is a matchless case in point. It is perhaps too early to state that the next elected government will be able to bring halcyon days. But, at the fag end of the tenure of the current coalition government, it is perhaps more pertinent to ponder on what damages have been wrought on our body politic by the current regime.

Admittedly, the wounds have festered to an intolerable extent, but the government is little interested in even providing some last-minute relief to the people. The current coalition has been so preoccupied with the thought of coming back to power that it just can't spare a thought for the people's miseries, even at this dying moment of its tenure. It seems that the coalition cares a fig for people's reprisal in the voting, which is not unlikely.

State power is nothing but command over the exchequer and people's pockets. Being imbued with the preceding motto, the bigwigs and the petty bourgeoisie related to the current regime have looted public money at their will. The businessmen who had access to the corridors of power had a meaty share of the booty, while the peripheral middlemen and rent-seekers were direct beneficiaries, leaving the local level leaders to enjoy whatever trickled down.

May I, however, humbly ask whether I have been too harsh on the current regime in pointing out its tendencies? In fact, many others have done so earlier, and rightly so. Admittedly, people do not understand the esoteric theories of economics. However, many have working knowledge of inflation, increase of price of commodities in the world market, and its impact on the local market.

In simple terms, inflation implies a situation where the amount of money in circulation is much more than the commodities available in the market. Now, the pertinent question is not one of non-availability of commodities, which are reported to be abundant, but rather of over-circulation of money. Many claim that there is no scarcity of essentials, but the prices are just shooting up only to feed the criminal syndicates.

Anyway, uncertainty regarding electoral reforms is still hovering on the horizon. The major political parties seem to be more interested in time-wasting and playing the blame game. The last session of the parliament is about to end. If any reform is carried out, constitutional amendment will be required. However, many say that such changes can be effected even during the caretaker regime. Sheikh Hasina has vowed to resist KM Hasan's appointment with all her party's might, and Begum Khaldea Zia also rebutted with the declaration that her party won't sit idle if the AL-led alliance goes all out against KM Hasan.

Thus, the signs are ominous if anything dramatic does not happen in between. However, this volatile and uncertain situation is causing anxiety among the people who even anticipate a probable military take-over. To be frank the democratic parties could not deliver what was promised, even after restoration of democracy in 1991. They rather contributed to criminalisation of politics, which is why politics has already become an anathema for many.

Anyway, there is no alternative to democracy. For the real betterment of the country, a military take-over will definitely be the worst thing to happen. After 1991, we noticed the meteoric rise of the media in Bangladesh because of which we were able to know what happening was. The role of the media and the civil society was definitely one of facilitation and cooperation in the functioning of the state. Media activity has, most of the times, proved useful in unearthing the cases of militancy, adulteration, human rights violation, and so on.

Thailand's military junta has already clamped censorship over the media. In fact, the military junta's main task, as soon it takes over, is to gag the media so that the people's right to know is snapped. In this age of globalisation, this is nothing but going back to the dark ages. It is thus opportune to profess that military take-over in Bangladesh would be simply counterproductive, and this is not unknown to the military personnel either.

Kazi SM Khasrul Alam Quddusi is Assistant Professor, Department of Public Administration, University of Chittagong.