Too much talk of democracy by the people who are not the least bit interested in following covenants of democratic practices. Members belonging to the so-called intellectual community are continually engaged in making lofty and high sounding deliberations about the welfare of the country sitting in the comforts of five-star hotel lobbies.

So much valuable time is lost due to hartals and vandalism on the streets. Total pandemonium has been created by strikes and lock-outs caused by the unrest amongst workers of the garment sector. The owners, the government, and the BGMEA still continue to indulge in playing hide-and-seek games, while the problems keep compounding.

Our environment is in a virtual state of ruination. Trees are being cut down indiscriminately, forests are being cleared for use in all kinds of construction works or selling of trees by unscrupulous traders. Water bodies both within the cities and alongside riverbanks are filled with illegal constructions. Ships are coming into the country freely, with dangerous toxic chemicals threatening the public health ending up in the ship-breaking dockyards of the country on a regular basis. Toxic industrial wastes are routinely released and find their way into ponds and into the rivers, polluting our water resources.

It looks as though everybody knows as to who are responsible for this unprecedented price hike of essentials. Yet no one seems to be dealing with it with any degree of seriousness. Some people tell me that this cannot be streamlined, as long as the syndicated gang of importers is unbroken, shuffling of ministers will not help.

Talk to a trader in the market place, and you will find that he is facing the TV camera wearing a broad smile on his face while answering to questions most casually with regard to prices of individual items of merchandise. Government does nothing, the traders are busy profiteering, in the meantime, retirees and people belonging to fixed and small income groups continue to suffer.

Things are getting more and more complicated due to the bombardment of lofty dialogues held by both the intellectual community and a select group of high-profile members of the civil society. They are leading the public too hastily into too vast a territory of utopian thinking. I am afraid at the end of the day no matter how well intended, this may not only turn out to be counter-productive but also get the people more confused.

The problem with us is that we want to clear tons of debris collected over decades in just a few months. To me, it appears as though many of these high-profile deliverers have two purposes: first they want to be seen and known as the do-gooders and well-wishers of the country, second make a mark for themselves in the political arena. I refuse to believe that Election 2007 is the end of the world for Bangladesh as projected by these self-styled saviours of the country.

Let us turn to the politicians and the political leadership. The only agenda of the opposition is to pull down the ruling coalition. They say they will not leave the agitation on the streets until this government is removed and then they say that they are fully committed and getting ready to contest the election.

The leader of the opposition says she will not allow elections to be held on the soil of Bangladesh until all her party's reform proposals are met in full. On the other hand, she and her party are also talking vigorously about holding dialogue with the ruling coalition on all contentious issues.

Well, if you are insisting on all conditions to be met, then why talk of any dialogues? The leader of the opposition, to me, appears to be more interested in having her way, come what may, right or wrong.

To me, she also appears to be unduly arrogant as the one-time head of our government and leader of the house. This is totally unbecoming of a national level leader of her stature who once headed this very government.

Not only that, clearly some of her statements are rather irrelevant, uncalled for, and shocking, such as when she made some remarks on the sickness of the president of the country while he was being flown off to Singapore where he subsequently had by-pass surgery. I do not know about others, but I, for one, was highly disappointed.

While the leader of the opposition says too much that means too little and is often too exaggerated and highly motivated, the prime minister says too little. She either talks of conspiracy all around her or about the politics of development (unnayaner rajniti) that she is so vigorously pursuing.

Her overall attitude is reflective of a queen who takes the position that she and her people (including her own family) can do no wrong, no matter what. Nearly all her colleagues under her leadership have amassed unprecedented amount of ill-gotten wealth and yet she could not be least bothered; after all, the queen cannot be involved in such petty matters.

You see, to my mind, in the final analysis, we all are guilty for the present state of our country. The politicians are acting against the interests of the country while posing as its only saviour and well-wisher, while we the people are held hostage by them, totally confused and helpless.